KOTOR: Destiny's New Path
by Robbie the Phoenix
Summary: A what if. What if it wasn’t Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master’s ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master. Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. Revan's mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side. [Completed]
1. Prologue: Bretrayal of a Different Kind

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Prologue: _Betrayal of a Different Kind_

"The Force fights with me!" Shouted Bastila Shan as she ignited her brilliant yellow Lightsaber and parried the attack of the crimson red Lightsaber belonging to a Dark Jedi. The two blades crackled as they made contact, and Bastila pulled back before wasting too much effort in the first attack of the battle.

At the end of the Bridge stood Bastila's target: Darth Revan. The Dark Lord of the Sith stood, his back turned to the battle. They were onboard his flagship, the _Star Phoenix_, in the middle of one of the most terrible space battles since Exar Kun. But Bastila couldn't worry about any of that at the moment; she was in battle with a deadly opponent, and one slip up could end everything for her.

Bastila fought with every ounce of skill she could muster. Spinning, parrying, striking. This was the biggest battle she'd ever been in, nothing she'd ever done compared to it. The Dark Jedi was her equal match, every attack she made, the Dark Jedi would block. Every attack the Dark Jedi made, Bastila blocked and would counter attack. It seemed there would be no end to the battle.

Then she saw the opening. The Dark Jedi made an attack at Bastila's side, and she saw his guard drop on his left side. The length of the battle had made him sloppy, and she struck strong and swiftly and her Lightsaber went straight through his waist, neatly cutting his torso from his lower body. Looking up, Bastila saw one of the half-dozen Jedi that had accompanied her fall to the ground, still holding his throat. Two other Jedi lay dead. Two of the final three Jedi walked up either side of her, the third flanking her from behind.

"You cannot win, Revan." Bastila said, raising the Lightsaber at the Dark Lord.

"Are you sure?" Said Revan as he turned to Bastila. His voice sounded mechanical, as it was altered via a voice synthesizer in his mask. He ignited his blood red Lightsaber, and brandished it at Bastila. Then everything changed. Behind Revan, outside in space, two proton missiles were suddenly fired at Revan's flagship from one of the ships. One of the Sith ships.

They never hit. Halfway toward the flagship, the two glowing missiles had seemed to stop. Around them was a strange purple aura.

"Stasis!" Bastila hissed. Revan was as powerful as the rumors said, then. Few could stasis-freeze something in the vacuum of space.

"Very good Bastila." Revan smirked as he stepped forward. His dark brown eyes did not leave Bastila's face although she was suddenly aware that her three remaining companions had suddenly clutched their throats, trying to remove the vice like grip on them. Ultimately, it was not possible to throw off the Force-choke Revan had placed on them, and they fell to the ground, unmistakably dead.

"There is no death…" Bastila whispered under her breath as she felt them becoming one with the Force.

"Still preaching the words of the Jedi, Bastila?" Revan asked. Before she could answer, he rushed her, swinging his saber at her. She raised the yellow blade of her Lightsaber just in time to save herself from losing her head.

Then suddenly, the ship rocked and Bastila saw that the Stasis Field had mysteriously worn off outside and the missiles hit their mark. Although every electrical power source on the Bridge exploded as soon as the missiles hit, Bastila was completely unharmed.

The young Jedi just stood there and stared at the charred body of Darth Revan. She closed her eyes, trying to sense any small hint of life, but there was none. Darth Revan was dead and gone. And so was any chance of the Jedi finding the solution to defeating the Sith.

At that time, she did not think to wonder why Revan had been completely at totally electrocuted and she walked away without a scratch. However, her troubles were only just beginning.

Malak laughed manically as he saw the two missiles hit his _former_ Master's flagship. Then he was shocked to see one of his own interdictor ships turn its direction toward his own ship.

"Sir!" Admiral Saul Karath looked up to Malak. "Incoming transmission!"

Malak nodded at a spider like droid. Admiral Karath pressed some buttons at his command board, and an image appeared to stand atop the droid. The image of a dark cloaked figure wearing a mask.

"No!" Malak said. "Impossible!" Under the mask, Revan's lips curled into an evil smile. Then, from behind the image, the blast door to the Bridge opened and several Jedi rushed forward, igniting their Lightsabers. The image of Revan fade and the ship it had come from emptied its torpedo bay upon Malak's ship. Then the ship fled into Hyperspace.

Malak had not been expecting the Jedi to board his ship as well, and had not brought many guards with him from Korriban. Nor had he expected Revan to use a decoy on the _Star Phoenix_. But the thing he least expected was to be betrayed by his Master on the moment he himself had been meant to take the title of Dark Lord of the Sith.

The shields of the _Leviathan_ took most of the damage dealt by the proton torpedoes. Malak had had Admiral Karath upgrade the Shield generators with materials from the Star Forge, allowing the ship to repairs itself like the Star Maps, the Guardian and the Temple Computer could. However, even with the modified power, the shields gave way to three of the dozen torpedoes, and the Bridge of Malak's ship was all but blown apart.

However, the few Jedi that survived the attack were not about to give up their mission. With what little strength and air they had, they pulled Malak from space, slamming the blast door to the shattered Bridge shut.

The four Jedi struggled to bring the dying Malak back to their shuttle, only just escaping as the Republic fired upon the limp ship, turning the _Leviathan_ into ball of fire hurtling toward the sun.

Bastila returned to the Jedi's flagship, the _Guiding Force_, and was met immediately by her Master, Jedi Master Vrook.

"You failed." He whispered. Bastila would have felt better if he'd shouted at her. Then she saw another shuttle enter the Hangar. Vrook saw it as well, and he walked over to it as the landing ramp lowered and three Jedi walked off, carrying the dying form of – _Darth Malak_! Bastila was stunned. But of course, the Council wouldn't just go after Revan. They would've gone after both Sith Lords, so that even if one team failed, as happened, one may still succeed.

There was still hope then.

Vrook turned back to Bastila as several healers rushed away with Malak on a stretcher.

"Your presence is required on the Bridge." He announced. "We received a transmission not long before one of the Sith Interdictor ships fired on Malaks ship-." Bastila's jaw dropped in shock. One of Malak's followers had turned on him. "So far, all we know of it is that it was sent to you, but we are, as of yet, unable to initiate the message itself."

Bastila nodded and followed her Master to the Bridge.

As soon as they walked onto the Bridge, Bastila was led to the communications panel, and the Republic soldier at the controls pressed a series of buttons.

"It seems to voice-printed." Vrook said. "We're hoping that since it was sent to you, your voice will unlock it."

The screen in front of them lit up, but no image appeared.

"_Your name please._" Said the computer.

"Bastila Padme Shan." Bastila said. The screen went blank for a moment, then a cold, mechanically synthesized voice said a single sentence, "_The Phoenix _will_ rise from the ashes!_"


	2. Chapter 1: Malak's Redemption

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note:

Chapter 1: _Malak's Redemption

* * *

_

Many things can happen in the galaxy. At any time, what first appeared to be evil can turn out to be one who simply needed a beacon to find their way back. And those who were once considered friends can turn into bitter enemies.

I am Bastila Shan, a Padawan in the Jedi Order. My final mission before becoming a Jedi Knight? I was to guide him down the path of the Light, and, should his Force powers reawaken, to return him to the Jedi Council for training. I was a fool. I could not guide a student! At the time, I was still a student myself! And yet I accepted the mission, against my own intuition I accepted, and agreed to be Malak's keeper.

It all started that night at the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. I had been having dreams of Revan and that battle aboard the Star Phoenix. By now I knew it had been a decoy that had been killed, and put the dreams down to the result of the rumors going around the Enclave that Revan had somehow infiltrated the Jedi Order without any of the Masters even knowing it, and that the Dark Lord could, right now, be somewhere in this very Enclave.

I discarded those thoughts immediately. No one could get into the Jedi Order without the Council knowing it.

It was as I passed the infirmary, where Malak was suspended in a Kolto tank, that I saw someone. Figuring it was on of the Masters, I decided to at least announce I had had to get up because of some troubling dreams. Then I got closer, and saw, not the brown robes of a Jedi Master, but a long black cape, hooded black robes, and as the figure felt m approach and turned to look at me, I saw the crimson and obsidian Sith mask of Darth Revan.

Before I could scream out, Revan raised his hand, and I felt a claw-like grip constrict my throat. I reached for my throat in a vain attempt to remove the Force-Choke had me in. But it was not possible for a mere Padawan of my power to throw off something like that.

Just when I thought I was finished, the constriction ended. But then I was thrown into the air and backward, crashing into the wall and falling to the ground. I heard a sickening crack as one or two ribs snapped as I crashed to the floor.

I struggled to see where Revan was, but my vision was blurred. How hard had I hit my head on the wall?

A second later, it became much easier to see him. He was at the spot just behind the blood-red Lightsaber blade that was coming towards me. I struggled to get to my feet but the pain in my ribs was too great and barely made it to my knees.

Revan was just a few feet away from me when I heard a snap-hiss, and a green bladed Lightsaber sailed over me and struck at Revan's shoulder. And Bastila suddenly felt the presence of four powerful Force users approaching. Revan seemed to sense them as well, because he suddenly deactivate his Lightsaber. I guess, even with all the power of the Dark Side, against four Jedi Masters you can still be overpowered.

"There will be another time." Was all Revan said as he fled. And then I blacked out.

"Where am I?" I asked hesitantly.

"You're recovering in the infirmary. Look." Said a young male voice. I nodded, opening my eyes. I was indeed in the infirmary. What I shocked by was seeing myself, laying in one of the beds. I turned toward the direction of the voice. A young, rather handsome man sat cross-legged in front of one of the Kolto tanks.

"Am I dead?" I asked. The man shook his head.

"You might say this is a dream, or Force vision." He said. "We are both here because both of us have suffered pain inflicted by the Dark Lord."

At these words, my eyes flickered up to the inhabitant of the Kolto tank her companion was seated in front of.

"Malak!" I exclaimed. The man nodded. "Indeed." He said. "The Council members have been busy, restoring and recovering my memories. Although I have very little time left as Malak."

"What do you mean?" I demanded.

"That, I cannot tell you." Malak said, standing. "For now…"

_Awaken!_

I woke up so fast from the vision that it took me a moment to center myself in the Force. When that was done, I looked around the room in search of Malak's tank. But all I could find was a Rodian missing one of his antennae/stalks and a Twi'lek Jedi laying on one of the beds with a Medical droid fitting her with a robotic arm. I sat up, wondering what Malak had meant when he'd said he had little time left as Malak.

"Your name?" I asked. Perhaps I should back-track a little. I had told Master Vrook what had happened the night before, and he had said that aside from myself and Revan, he and the other Masters had sensed a third presence reaching out to me that night, and that that presence had called them when Revan had attacked me. It seemed that Revan had indeed infiltrated the Jedi Order, and had attempted to kill Malak. It hadn't been my dreams that had woken me up. It had been Malak reaching out to the one mind that he'd felt Revan pursue since the beginning of the Jedi Civil Wars: me. In doing so, Malak had somehow created a link, a connection through the Force between the two of us.

Vrook then told me of the ritual Jedi Master Atris had discovered in the archives. An archaic Force ability that could restore and create memories in the mind of a being. And that, because of the link between myself and Malak, I should attend the ritual. With the utmost speed I was brought to the Coruscant Jedi Temple, where the Council had once again assembled as a whole. I was to question about his new identity to make sure the ritual had been a success.

"Your name?" I repeated. He looked at me, then closed his eyes for a moment. In my hand was a datapad with questions I had to ask him about his new past.

"Kayle Starfire." He answered when he opened his eyes.

"Good. What is your class?" I asked him. He closed his eyes in concentration again.

"I'm a soldier in the republic fleet." He said, looking hopefully at me.

"Yes, that's right." I said, looking at the next question on the datapad.

"What's your home planet?" I looked up from the datapad to see his eyes were open still, but they seemed, well, empty, confused. Then the look was gone.

"Telos." He answered. I nodded. Why the council had chosen Telos as his home planet, I had no idea. That left one question.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Twenty-eight." He answered. The only truth about his new identity was his age. I nodded.

"Okay, thank you Kayle." I said, returning the datapad to my pack. "I shall have you transferred aboard the Republic Starship Endar Spire. A shuttle will pick you up at the temple's landing port at 0'800 tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am." Mal…Kayle said. He stood up and walked out of the room. He breathed a sigh of relief. The Council had succeeded. Malak was now a loyal soldier in the Republic fleet, and with any luck would lead us to the source of the Sith armada, where we may finally defeat them once and for all. I stood up and walked out of the room. I had to assemble my party of Jedi that would join me aboard the Endar Spire, so that we could return Malak to Dantooine.

As I left the room, I accidentally walked right into another Jedi and we were both knocked to the floor.

"Oh, I am so sorry." Said the other Jedi. I looked up to see she couldn't be much old then me, if she was even that old. Her hair was a brown-blonde colour, and curly, and her eyes were a beautiful emerald green.

"It's okay." I said, standing and helping her to her feet. "I should have been looking where I was going."

"No, I was in a hurry." Insisted the other woman. "Uh, I'm Zora Firemoon."

"Nice to meet you, Zora. I'm Bastila Shan." I said, holding out my hand to shake hers. She accepted happily.

"So, you're Bastila." Zora said. "I'm actually one of the Jedi joining you on the Endar Spire."

"Oh, then it's very nice to meet you." I said. "Uh, I'm actually on my way to the assembly room to meet with the Jedi joining me, I take it your were on your way there?"

"Of course." Zora said, smiling. "Mind if I walk with you?"

"Well, we're both going in the same direction, so, why not." I shrugged, and Zora, who seemed to smile an awful lot. Something I found somewhat disturbing and funny. When I brought it up she giggled in a girlish way that was a bit unbecoming of a Jedi, especially one who was in her early twenties.

"Yes, a lot of people think I'm too happy. I don't know why though." She said. "I say, if you can't be happy with life, why are you living." She giggled again. I mentally rolled my eyes. How did this over-happy adolescent achieve the rank of Padawan Consular and get into _my _mission Party?

I hadn't realized that Zora had been talking about her Padawan trials, where the final challenge had been preventing a family feud from turning into a mini-war after their married daughter and son's home had been burned to the ground. She had successfully persuaded the family to set aside their differences and even to work together to rebuild the home.

"That's very interesting." I said, somewhat unconvincingly. She didn't seem to notice how unconvincing it was though, as she simply nodded and kept talking. So she was an over-happy adolescent with an overactive vocabulary. Force, was this girl a reincarnated protocol droid?

We finally arrived at the assembly room, where I was introduced to several other Jedi, and then, after a quick meal, we all went to our quarters. We would be up early the following morning to board the Endar Spire.


	3. Chapter 2: Bastila's Predicament

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Chapter 2: _Bastila's Predicament

* * *

_

I stood on the Bridge of the Endar Spire. On my right, the Jedi: Zora, Ket Yasiq (a green Twi'lek woman), Leia Vacc (a human woman), Seth Kelpak (a human man) and Erik Lanne (a human man). On my left, the Republic soldiers, led by Commander Carth Onasi.

We were just coming out of Hyperspace at Taris to dock and refuel when we saw them. Four Sith Warships and dozens of Sith fighters swarming in on the Endar Spire.

"By the Force..." I heard Kiharo whisper under his breath. Then every man and woman on the Bridge went into action. Carth immediately hit the 'emergency' switch, and the Endar Spire's battle alarms started ringing all through the ship.

"Bastila, get to the escape pods!" Carth shouted.

"I…" I started to argue, but then the ship received a direct hit from one of the Warships and shook violently. Without a second thought, I followed my fellow Jedi toward the Escape Pods. As we reached them, I suddenly realized that Leia Vacc was not with us.

"Where is she!" I demanded of Ket Yasiq. The Twi'leks head-tails wobbled nervously.

"She…she saw a Dark Jedi coming toward the Bridge." Ket whimpered. "She sealed the doors that led to the crew quarters and went to fight him."

"Sithspit!" I cursed. Of all the foolhardy things to do, that was one of the worst. But we had no time. Within moments the Sith will have boarded the ship, and we could not be here when that happened. "Okay, come on, everyone in. We have no choice." I was having more trouble convincing myself then them. Maybe I should have waited, but I didn't. We squeezed into the Escape Pod, and were fired from the Endar Spire!

"Are your lightsabers at the ready?" I asked. The three other Jedi raised their Lightsabers. My gaze flickered over each of them, stopping on one of them. To my utter shock, I recognized the shape and basic design as the Lightsaber that had been thrown at Revan the night Malak and I had been linked. I looked up at its owner: Zora Firemoon.

"You… you were in the Infirmary the night I was attacked?" I questioned. Zora looked confused.

"What?" She followed my gaze to her Lightsaber. "…Oh, no …The Lightsaber belonged to my Master. She died not long ago, but she made sure I was the one to receive her Lightsaber. Of course, I replaced the colour crystal with green, to better suit my class."

I nodded. That made sense, I suppose. I noticed Zora was not the same happy chatterbox she'd been the day I'd met her. Perhaps it was the death of Leia Vacc. I'd seen the two talking a lot in the mess hall aboard the Endar Spire; they had seemed like good friends.

"Hold on tight, my friends." Kiharo shouted as we hurtled toward the southern street of Upper City Taris.

"We're going too fast!" Ket exclaimed just as the Escape Pod slammed into the street, and tore right through the permacrete, ; still going too fast, we crashed into the Lower City street and ricocheted skyward and then back down hurtling toward the Undercity.

Was I dead? No…I was in too much pain to be dead. I slowly, and with much difficulty, opened my eyes. My head was throbbing; my right leg was numb and pointing out in an inhuman position and my left arm was in excruciating pain. Aside from that, I was perfectly healthy.

Struggling to stand on my left foot, I managed to get a hold of part of the escape pod and pulled myself up. My vision was somewhat blurred, but I could still make out the basic shape of everything. Focused the Force onto my leg first. If I was attacked by anything, I wanted to at least be able to flee if need be.

Half an hour and a dozen curses later, my leg was restored to almost 100 health. At least, I could now walk on it without to much pain. While healing my leg, my vision had also improved. Looking around me, I saw a terrifying sight: Ket Yasiq has been impaled on a sharp piece of metal. The piece of metal had gone straight through her chest. I hoped she was killed instantly and didn't have to suffer. Continuing my scan of the area, I saw Seth lying on the ground, unconscious. There was dark blood trickling into his blonde hair from a wound in the back of his head. Struggling to his feet not far away was Erik. There was no sign of Zora. Until I heard a scream.

I turned in the direction of the scream. Erik had already activated his Lightsaber, which was silver in colour.

I reached for my Lightsaber at my belt. My hand closed around empty air.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. It may have saved Zora from what those gang members were about to do to her, but at the time it also seemed to condemn myself, Erik and Seth. Seth, who was even younger then me. I dropped to my hands and knees and began fumbling around on the ground for my Lightsaber. How could I have been so foolhardy as to not make sure it was secured before the pod crashed? I heard a thud as blue circles flew through the air from a stun blaster and Erik was knocked unconscious. My hand brushed against something smooth and cylindrical. I wrapped my fingers around the familiar shape of my Lightsaber…

And was knocked unconscious by a pulse of energy surging through my body.

When I woke up, it was like I was still asleep. The bastards had fitted me with a Neural Disruptor Collar. Let me try to explain how it feels. I no longer feel connected to my body and it is impossible to focus on anything. It disrupts the patterns of the mind, making it very difficult to do anything but exist. And even that feels difficult.

However, they've never tried to use one on a Jedi before. Every second of every minute of every hour was spent piecing together my mind. I needed every second, as it took me an hour to actually make that plan, and it took a great deal of willpower to keep myself from losing it.

But, piece by piece, hour by hour, I managed to collect my thoughts to the point I could make out was going on around me, but I still could not do anything.

One thing that kept disrupting my work was constant pulses through the Force of pain coming from my companions. They were being tortured. And I could do nothing to help them…

And then I felt them. Zora, Erik and Seth were connecting through the Force. I wondered if they knew that by doing this they were likely to link themselves to each other like I had to Malak. Then I felt them reach out for me. I hesitated. That cost me my freedom. Those few seconds were all I'd had, and I wasted them. The Force collective that had just seconds ago, been ready to embrace me had retreated. And what was worse, I was beginning to lose my grip on reality again. Those few moments of not focusing on recovering my thoughts had cost me dearly, and I had to redouble my efforts to recollect it all.

After days and maybe weeks of being trapped outside my thoughts, I was free. Looking around, I found myself in some sort of cage, with a Bothan guarding the cage. I could practically see the darkness pulsing from him. Then I heard a voice.

"You old fool!" Shouted a man. He was quite tall, with smooth black hair, dark skin and a scowl that made his face look worse then it already did. "Your traditions mean nothing to me. Nothing! I will rule the Lower City. If I want to withdraw my prize and sell her to Davik, I will, and any and all who get in my way will die."

"I might have something to say about that!" I snarled. May the Force forgive me! I was so angry, I wanted to punish him for what he'd done to my fellow Jedi. And then I saw the glint of something cylindrical and shiny. That filthy bastard had clipped _my_ Lightsaber onto _his_ belt. I raised my hand and called it to me through the Force. It snapped off the man's belt, snapping his belt, and spiraled through the air. Seconds before it reached the cage, I used the Force to press the activation button for one end.

There were screams as the beautiful yellow blade burst from one end of the hilt, made a large stab wound on my guards chest, and then landed safely in my hand. I then used the Force to remove the lock on the cage.

As I stepped out of the cage, my Lightsaber still activated, I heard several _snap-hisses_, and Zora, Seth and Erik emerged from certain parts in the crowd. Zora, carrying a single green blade, Erik holding one blue Lightsaber and one silver one, and Seth, igniting a double-bladed orange crystal.

I activated the second end of my Lightsaber, and saw Mal…_Kayle_ in melee combat with the bastard who had thought he would sell me like some common sword or piece of armour.

I rushed forward as Erik, Seth and Zora handled the other members of the gang.

"Yah!" I shouted commanding the Force to propel myself forward. The man battle Kayle made a flurry of attacks that proved too much for Kayle. I used the Force to separate them. Not just to save him, but I was angry. I wanted revenge!

Normally, I may not have been fast enough to beat him, even with my Lightsaber. He was a master at melee combat, and could have easily bested me, had I not been drawing on my anger to strengthen my attacks and speed my movements. I knew it was wrong, but I didn't care. I killed him with ease. But I didn't stop attacking him, my anger was quickly becoming too much for me to control.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zora with a look of horror on her face, Seth looking somewhat bewildered, and Erik with a look of intrigue. I slowed down. I felt like someone was whispering in my ear to continue feeding and strengthening my anger. All I had to do was keep killing everyone around me.

But I deactivated my Lightsaber. I felt a _clink_ as it hit the ground, and I began to repeat verses of the Jedi Code in my head. That was cutting it too close to falling to the Dark Side. I had to be more mindful of my emotions.

"Forgive me." I said. "I…lost myself." I turned to Kayle, pretending to only just get a good look at his face. "Aren't you…aren't you one of the soldier from the Republic Fleet?"

"Yes, I'm Kayle Starfire." He said.

"By the Force, how did you end up riding in a swoop race?" I asked.

"I don't have time to explain, the Sith are likely to have seen the uproar." He insisted. "We have to meet Carth back at the apartments."

"The Sith – Carth – what has been happening while I was a prisoner?" I demanded.

"No time to explain, come on." With that, he took my hand and pulled so hard he could have pulled my arm out of its socket. But I followed him after that. That is after retrieving my Lightsaber.


	4. Chapter 3: Ordo’s Offer

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Chapter 3: _Ordo's Offer_

* * *

_Malak laughed manically as he watched the two missiles hit his former Master's flagship. Then he was shocked to see one of his own interdictor ships turn its direction toward his own ship._

_"…Sir!" Admiral Saul Karath looked up to Malak. "…Incoming transmission!"_

_Malak nodded at a spider like droid. Admiral Karath pressed some buttons at his command board, and an image appeared to stand atop the droid… the image of a dark cloaked figure wearing a mask._

_"No!" Malak said. "Impossible!" Under the mask, Revan's lips curled into an evil smile. Then, from behind the image, the blast door to the Bridge opened and several Jedi rushed forward, igniting their lightsabers. The image of Revan fade and the ship it had come from emptied its torpedo bay upon Malak's ship. Then the ship fled into Hyperspace._

_Malak had not been expecting the Jedi to board his ship as well, and had not brought many guards with him from Korriban. Nor had he expected Revan to use a decoy on the Star Phoenix. But the thing he least expected was to be betrayed by his Master on the moment he himself had been meant to take the title of Dark Lord of the Sith._

_The shields of the Leviathan took most of the damage dealt by the proton torpedoes. Malak had had Admiral Karath upgrade the shield generators with materials from the Star Forge, allowing the ship to repairs itself like the Star Maps, the Guardian and the Temple Computer could. However, even with the modified power, the shields gave way to three of the dozen torpedoes, and the bridge of Malak's ship was all but blown apart._

_However, the few Jedi that survived the attack were not about to give up their mission. With what little strength and air they had, they pulled Malak from space and slammed the blast door to the shattered bridge shut._

Kayle led me to a Lower City apartment he had won in a game of Pazaak. As we entered, I spotted a blue Twi'lek girl drinking from a small cup. Upon seeing Kayle, she put the cup down and raced over to greet us. In the corner stood a young Wookiee with chocolate brown fur, who came over to greet us as well.

At the back of the living room, sitting on one of the chairs, was Carth Onasi. From where I stood, it looked like he was cleaning his blaster. Upon seeing Kayle and I enter, he holstered the blaster and walked over.

"Bastila…? Thank goodness you're alive!" He exclaimed. "It's about time we had some luck. Maybe between Kayle, you and me, we can finally figure out a way to get of this rock."

I was stunned. "What do you mean? Are you saying you have not yet found a way to get off Taris?"

"You know, I'm getting a little sick of that attitude of yours Bastila." Kayle said.

"My… my attitude…?" I was appalled. "That is no way to speak to your commanding officer, Kayle. In the future you would do well to show a little respect."

"Why don't you damn well try practicing what you preach first!" Kayle all but shouted. Without warning, the cup the Twi'lek had been drinking from suddenly exploded.

My jaw dropped.

"What…what did you do?" I demanded of him. Kayle looked behind him at the pieces of broken glass, then turned back to look at me.

"I don't know." He said. "But this isn't the first strange thing that happened."

"It isn't?" I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to see if he was lying. If he was, he was extremely good at it.

"No, when I first met you I saw…well, I guess it was a vision." He thought for a moment. "It was of Malak…he was on the bridge of a Sith ship, and he was battling a group of Jedi. And then the bridge was destroyed somehow…I can't remember how though…"

I frowned. It appeared that his memories were surfacing much earlier then I would have suspected.

"This is…strange. Such visions are often signs of Force Sensitivity." I said. "If you were only…" I stopped, searching for the right words to say it. "Well, if you weren't as old, I would suggest seeking out the Jedi. But I suppose…" I trailed off.

Kayle waited a moment before asking, "You suppose what?"

"I'm sorry; I'm not the person to talk to about this." I looked around the apartment. "I will, however, meditate on what this means." I looked to Carth. "Perhaps while I do that, you can try to find a way off of Taris." With that said, I walked turned to my left and went into one of the two bedrooms. As I closed the door I added, "I'm not to be interrupted, is that understood?"

Everyone nodded, and I finished closing the door. I went and sat on one of the beds, crossed my legs, and slowed my breathing, allowing myself to become one with the Force as it swirled around me.

_I stepped out of the apartment, Carth behind me and to my right, Mission behind my and to my left._

_"Okay, my bet is, the Sith will have been monitoring the Swoop Race." I said as we walked. "They'll have seen I rescued Bastila, which means we cannot go back to the Upper City without disguises, and at this time those disguises are sitting in the hands of Gadon Thek."_

_I stopped as a Twi'lek man suddenly sprinted up to us. I opened my mouth to ask what he wanted, but he spoke first._

_"_Greetings human..._" He said. "_You are the Racer named Kayle Starfire, are you not?_"_

_"That's me, but-!" I was interrupted by the Twi'lek._

_"_Good, I was sent as a messenger by someone you may know. Canderous of Ordo…?_"_

_I was somewhat shocked, though I didn't show it. I had met him in the Undercity. I'd even helped him kill some Rakghouls. But he didn't seem like the kind of guy to send a messenger just to say thanks. "Yes, I know him, why do-!" For the second time I was interrupted by the Twi'leks fast tongue._

_"_Good, he sent me to give you this Datapad._" He handed me the Datapad, and I activated it._

_"_Greetings, Kayle Starfire. I am Canderous of the Clan Ordo, and I have sent this Datapad to you with an offer.

_"_I work for the local crime lord, Davik Kang. It was a reasonable job, until Davik started slacking in my payments. I've decided I can do better, so here's my offer.

_"_A Twi'lek Mechanic in the Upper City has built Davik an Astromech Droid that has enough slicing and hacking techniques to break into Coruscant's bank vaults.

_"_However, if you accept my offer, you'll only have to use it to break into the Sith Military Base. Somewhere in that base are the Sith Launch Codes a ship needs to leave Taris. You get those codes, and I can supply a ship. All you have to do is find them, and meet me in Javyar's Cantina when you do. I'll explain the rest then._"_

_The recording shut down, and I looked up at the Twi'lek._

_"_Given his connections, I would recommend not to keep him waiting._" He said._

_Before I could say anything, he had sprinted away at a great speed. I turned to Carth and Mission._

_"Do you think we should?" I asked. Carth just shrugged. Mission seemed to be considering what we'd been told and adding up the risks of doing as he suggested seriously at the moment from what I could tell, but before I could interject a word…_

_"I say we do it." Mission said. "He may be a Mandalorian, and he may work for Davik. But he also never, and I mean _never_, meets with some offworlder, even if they have won the Swoop Championships."_

_I nodded. "Okay, let's go."_

"What…?" I came back out of the vision so fast I hadn't prepared myself for it, and had to take a moment while my vision stopped spinning. I was too shocked at what Kayle was planning to do that I didn't even think to question the reason I had been seeing through his eyes in my meditation.

Without a second thought I was up on my feet and sprinting for the door.

"Hroooor…" I looked up. The Wookie, Zalbaar, had been sitting in the shadows. Upon seeing me enter the room, he had stood and reached my side at a speed, I would not have thought possible for a Wookie.

Thankfully, unlike most people, I understood the Wookie language. He had been asking me where I was going.

"I have to get to the Cantina." I said. Zalbaar nodded.

"_I know of a shortcut to get there._" He said.

"That is alright." I said. "I can get there on my own."

I moved to open the door but Zalbaar lightly took hold of my arm. Even with his light grip, it was strong enough to keep hold of a Kinrath's tail.

"_Kayle Starfire has requested I accompany you on any outings._" Zalbaar said. "_He insists that you cannot be left unguarded on Taris, due to the Sith occupation._"

He said what! I couldn't believe that Kayle thought I was incapable of protecting myself from a couple of Sith Soldiers. However, I could see there was no arguing with Zalbaar; Wookie's were known for being quite stubborn.

"Very well, I said tightly, my lips pressed into a thin line; please take me to the Cantina."

Upon arriving at the Cantina, I saw that Kayle had not yet arrived. Good, that meant he had not yet accepted the Mandalorians' offer. I had found Canderous, spoke to him myself, and discovered that he had indeed sent Kayle the Datapad.

I was just about to go after Kayle and the others when Zalbaar placed a paw-like hand on my shoulder and shook his head.

"_We must let them do this._" He said. "_It is likely Kayle Starfire has already led them into the Sith Base, and all we would do is alert the Sith of our friends actions._"

Slightly annoyed, I relaxed my hands, although I didn't remember ever clenching them into fists.

"I suppose you're right." I said. "Very well, we will wait."

* * *

Chapter 3 is finished. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Chapter 4 has already been started and will be up ASAP. 


	5. Chapter 4: Davik's Demise

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

* * *

Chapter 4: _Davik's Demise_

: 

After three hours of waiting, they finally came back; Kayle walked into the Cantina triumphantly, carrying the datapad containing the Sith launch codes. Behind him, came Mission and Carth, Mission was carrying a large double-bladed vibroblade, which she handed to Zalbaar. The Wookie examined it for a moment, and then growled his thanks to Mission, who smiled happily. I looked to Carth, who was wearing a new suit of Dueling Armour.

"Where did you get that armour?" I demanded, walking up to him.

"Just a little prize from the Sith Governor we had to kill to get the launch codes." Carth said. I didn't want to admit it, but I thought he looked quite striking in the silver and black armour.

"Ah, Kayle Starfire, I presume?" Canderous stood and walked over to us. "So do you have them?"

"Right here…" Kayle said, dropping the datapad onto the table we were waiting at. "We lived up to our part of the deal, now you better hold up your end."

"Of course…" Canderous said. "As I said in the recording, Davik has stopped paying me what I should receive, and frankly, I'm sick of it.

"So my plan is this: I bring you to Davik's Estate, and say you're looking to join the exchange. Davik's always looking for a new recruit, and between my recommendations and your win at the Swoop Championships, he'd be happy to let you join. He'll let you stay in his estate while he runs a background check on you, and while he's doing that, we take his ship, the Ebon Hawk."

After hearing the plan, I spoke up. "This is far too risky. We can't do it."

Canderous turned his steely gaze on me. "You got another plan?"

"No, I don't." I said, returning the glare. "But I would much rather not put my life in your hands."

"The feeling's mutual, which makes us even." The Mandalorian turned back to Kayle. "So, you up for it…?"

"You bet!" Kayle said, shaking Canderous' hand to close the deal. "Let's go." He and Canderous began to walk toward the exit of the Cantina.

"Hold it!" I said. "You're not going anywhere without me!" I said.

Kayle stopped and irritably turned. "I thought you said you didn't want to be a part of this."

"No, I said it was too risky." I said, catching up with them. "For that reason, I believe you'll undoubtedly need me."

Kayle shrugged. I think he'd been expecting me to come, and I wasn't too thrilled about being predicted, but at least that meant he was allowing me to join him. "Okay, let's go."

As we were leaving, Seth suddenly raced up to us, flustered and out of breath. "I can't find Zora!" He panted. "I've looked all around the apartments, and down the streets, she's no where to be found!"

"Okay, calm down Seth." Kayle said. "We have to go with Canderous. While we're gone, you, Erik, Zalbaar and Mission search for Zora. Do you understand?"

Seth nodded. The young man turned and dashed out of the Cantina to look for the other Jedi. Mission and Zalbaar got up and ran after him.

Canderous led us to a couple of swoop bikes, which he said had the location of Davik's Estate in the vidmaps on the two bikes.. He jumped on one, Kayle and I (Kayle at the handlebars) hopped on the other. I wasn't exactly comfortable sitting with him, but it was far preferable to sitting with the Mandalorian. I jumped on the back of Kayle's bike and pulled on a helmet.

We traveled for about an hour; I could see how Kayle had won the Swoop Championship: He was extremely skilled, dodging around the base of buildings, jumping the swoop over small obstacles, and at one time he even drove the swoop up a ramp and rocketed it skyward. We didn't stay airborne for long, falling back down to the Undercity of Taris with the ease of a great bird.

"_Ease up on the stunts kid, Davik doesn't want the location of his Estate known by the Sith._" Came Canderous' gruff voice over the two way communicator in our helmets.

"No problem Canderous." Kayle said back, and he slowed to a mere 220 odd miles an hour, allowing Canderous to keep up with them. I vaguely remembered that I'd been told Malak had been quite a swoop racer during the war.

Finally, we arrived at the Davik's Estate. It was almost night, and the only light came from the inside of the Estate. Canderous led us into the underground Garage around the back, and then brought us up to meet Davik.

"Ah, Canderous, how good to see you again." Said the old man who I assumed was Davik. He was short, with oily grey hair and dark eyes, and a smile that one often found oneself looking at about ten seconds before being eaten by a Dxun pit dweller. "But I see you've brought someone with you this time, rather peculiar if I do say myself."

Beside him, an even shorter man stood. He was unshaven, with goggles hiding his eyes and a blue and red flight jacket of thick battle armour. He, unlike his boss, seemed incapable of even a pit dweller smile. He simply stood there and glowered at Canderous, then when Davik brought up the subject of Kayle and I accompanying Canderous, he spoke up.

"You're going soft Canderous. Normally you bring your target's in dead."

"You stay out of this Calo or I'll start telling people why you didn't go into the Undercity to search for those escape pods."

"You say one word and I'll-!" Calo had reached for his blaster, but Davik raised his own first and fired at the ceiling. It hit a forcefield and sizzled out, but it stopped Canderous and Calo from arguing.

"Enough!" He said, reholstering the blaster. Reluctantly, Canderous and Calo did the same. "I will not have my two best mercenary's killing each other over petty insults. I'm sure Canderous has a perfectly good explanation for bringing these two in alive."

"Actually, these two aren't prisoners." Canderous said. "In case you didn't recognize them, this is Kayle Starfire, who won her, the woman Brejik put up as first prize."

"Ah yes, of course, now I recognize you." Davik said, though I could see he was lying through what was left of his teeth. "So, if you are not a prisoner, then why have you come? Unless…"

"Kayle is looking to join the Exchange. His win at the swoop track was simply a way to gain our attention." Canderous stated. "As you can see, he succeeded. And as I told him, you're always looking for new recruits, and with his skills, he could turn out to be a real asset."

Davik was nodding, and still smiling that false smile. "Yes, a good idea." He said. "Of course, it would require a thorough background check, and then you would have to sign the contract with the Exchange, then pass a test of loyalty, and then get three crime lords to sign the contract to state you have full permission. But with my connections and Canderous' recommendations, you stand a real chance of getting in.

"But enough of this talk for now, why don't I take you on a first class tour of my Estate." Kayle shrugged, Canderous nodded. Davik turned and pressed a button next to one of the doors leading out of the rooms, and we followed him out.

He led us on a tour of the Spice Lab, the Infirmary, the Dining Room, the Throne Room, the Hangar, and then finally, we retired to Visitors Quarters.

After leaving strict orders to remain in our room, Davik bowed out and left us to our own devices.

"Okay, we're in." Canderous said. "That's one out of three objections completed. We still need to get the codes to disable to shield around the Hangar Door, and then we need to get the Ebon Hawk itself."

I nodded, and Canderous opened the door to the hall. Kayle led the way, with Canderous and I trailing behind him.

First we paid a visit the to Slave Quarters, where we learned of a Pilot who had not been seen since it was discovered he was leaking information to Davik's rivals, and that he was most likely being tortured in the Cells. Of course, the slaves didn't know the location of the Cells. But I had a feeling I did.

"Did you notice how Davik continued to avoid one particular hall, even though it was obviously a shorter way to our next destination?" I asked. Kayle thought for a moment, and then nodded.

"As a matter of fact, I did." Kayle said. "It was strange, like he was hiding something."

"Let's go!" Canderous said. Kayle sprinted down the hallways, with Canderous and I struggling to keep up with his speed. After a couple of incidents with guards in the Spice Lab and Infirmary, we found the hallway we were looking for. Indeed, instead of the doors that led to rooms like in the hallway Davik had left us in, it had forcefields to hold the prisoners in their cells. As we tuned a corner we found the torture cage, and two droids hovering around flicking switches and pulling leavers. I raised my hand and tried to use the Force to disable the droids circuitry, but all I managed to do with overheat it, and it would only last about ten seconds.

Ten seconds was all Canderous and Kayle needed. They both raised their blaster cannons and blasted the droids into small pieces of smoking metal and circuits.

I sprinted over to cage controls and deactivated it.

Inside was a young man, his face dirty and unshaven, with shadows under his eyes and his ribs showing under the rags he was wearing. Upon seeing that it wasn't a guard or the droids, he sighed with relief.

"Oh, thank you." He stammered. "I don't know how much longer I could have withstood that without going insane."

"I am glad we could help." Kayle said.

"There has to be something I can give you for helping me." He held his head, trying to collect his thoughts. "Wait, there is. I don't have any credits, but I have something just as good: the codes to open the hangar bay doors. Once you do that you can use the codes to disable the security system for the Ebon Hawk, Davik's flagship."

"Thankyou." Kayle said. "If I let you go, can you find your way out?"

"I should be able to, after all, I used to work for Davik." With that, he picked up a bag in the corner of the room, and sprinted away.

"Okay, we have what we came for. We should probably get to the hangar as soon as possible." Canderous said.

"Agreed." I said. "Let's go-"

At that moment I heard the _snap-hiss_ of a Lightsaber igniting. I spun around, my Lightsaber leaping off of my belt and landing in my hand, one end already activated.

But it wasn't a Dark Jedi, as I had suspected. It was Zora, somewhat out of breath and looking a little worse for the where, but all around okay.

"What happened?" Kayle asked. "No, wait, tell us on the Ebon Hawk, we don't have time to talk right now."

Zora nodded, returning her Lightsaber to her belt, as did I.

We easily found our way around the Estate, and were quickly outside the hangar.

"Let's hope this works." Kayle said, punching in the code to open the hangar doors (both the entrance into the hangar, and the bay doors to let the Ebon Hawk out), and they slid open. We walked in.

The hangar was being torn apart around us by laser fire that could only come from a Sith ship in orbit. We sprinted toward the Ebon Hawk to escape.

That's when we saw Davik and Calo racing into the hangar from the other end. Davik looked up as they neared the Ebon Hawk, then slowed as he saw us.

"Well, look what we have here." He whispered, still smiling his false smile. "Thieves in the hangar…so, you though that you'd simply take my ship and leave me high and dry while the Sith blast Taris into rubble?"

"No, actually…" Kayle stopped for a moment to think. "Oh, yes, we are." He narrowed his eyes without thinking and Davik was suddenly thrown off his feet. I turned to look at him.

He recoiled slightly but I smiled. "Not bad." I said. I ignited both ends of my yellow Lightsaber, and Zora ignited her green Lightsaber. We rushed forward at Davik, while Kayle and Canderous raised their blaster cannons and let loose a volley of blaster fire at Calo.

Davik was a skilled swordsman, but he was nothing compared to two Jedi. We attacked him with a flurry of attacks, our saber blades blurs of yellow and green as they blocked and struck and parried and sliced at Davik. After only a few well place strikes, he was down, obviously his old age had caught up with him.

Before we could take out Calo he suddenly stepped backward, out of range of the blaster fire, and pulled something small and shiny out of his jacket pocket.

"It's a-" Canderous began.

"-Thermal Detonator, and if any of you come near me, I'll press this button and blast us all to hell." Calo said. I looked around the hangar, hoping to find something I could use to stop him. Then another laser fire made a direct hit and a catwalk from above came loose, falling from the ceiling and crushing Calo.

"Come on!" Kayle shouted. I looked up; Kayle and Canderous were already going up the boarding ramp and Zora was racing toward it. I used the Force and propelled myself forward, narrowly dodge falling debris as I raced toward the Ebon Hawk.

It was just as I made it up the ramp that I felt the first blast of pain through the Force as all the Tarisian civilians were either killed by the lasers or crushed under the debris that had once been the skyscrapers and hotels and manors.

I fell to the floor as another wave of pain pulsed through the Force. I saw that Zora was leaning against a swoop bike in the workshop part of the ship, struggling for breath as she, too, was overwhelmed by the pain of Taris.

Then I lost consciousness as a third wave of pain came at me.


	6. Chapter 5: Kayle's Quest

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: Typhoon99: "_To be honest it doesn't seem like that big a difference from the game, only your replacing Revan with Malak and more or less going on the same journey._" Oks, thanks for your complaint/criticism/pointer-out (oks, I don't know what exactly it was), I'll try and build a new story around him in this chapter.

Chapter 5: _Kayle's Quest_

I lay in the infirmary, the pain of Taris still with me, though we'd been in hyperspace for hours now. Kayle had come in when I'd first regained consciousness to see if I was alright.

"I'm fine." I insisted, though in truth I was as sick as a Kath Hound, feeling nauseous and somewhat dizzy every time I moved too fast. "How are the other Jedi, Erik, Seth, and Zora?"

"They're doing okay." Kayle said. "Zora and Seth are recovering in their respective dormitories, but Erik didn't seem affected by it like you three."

I sat up faster then I should've, and my head spun somewhat, I lied back down. "What do you mean he didn't seem affected?"

"I mean _he didn't seem affected._ As in, unlike you three, he was up front in the cockpit helping Canderous and then Carth getting us away from Taris before we got killed."

This time I sat up so fast it felt like I'd left my head behind, and took a few seconds to recover my line of thought.  
Revan had been known to have been able to disconnect himself from the battle. Was it possible Erik was Darth Revan? Then another thought occurred to me. I looked up at Kayle.

"Where's our destination?" I asked.

Kayle shrugged. "We don't really have one yet; we're just drifting in hyperspace at the moment."

I nodded. "Okay, plot a course for Dantooine. We can find shelter from the Sith there." This was only half-truth. True, we could be sheltered from the Sith, but I also wanted to discuss the matter of Kayle's sudden Force Sensitivity.

Kayle nodded and exited the infirmary. I let myself slip into a healing trance to try and deaden the pain that I had felt on Taris.

* * *

_The three tall claw-like mechanisms separated like a giant black flower as we approached. From the center rose a small sphere of swirling light, that expanded to reveal a galaxy maps of green, blue and black lights. Our journey down the Dark Path had begun.

* * *

_

I had recovered most of my strength more or less when I left my trance, and found out we still had at least an hour or so to go before we reached Dantooine, so I stood and went to find Kayle. There were a couple of things I had to discuss with him.

"Like what?" He asked me. I must've jumped a foot in the air when he'd asked that, and I turned around to face him.

"What do you mean, _like what…?"_

"Do we have to go through this again?" Kayle asked, smirking as I opened my mouth to say something, and then closed it again. Three or four times... Then he continued, "I mean, what do you want too discuss with me?"

Taking a deep breath so as to keep myself from strangling him, I spoke, "I want to discuss how you managed to find me with so little to go one? And also how you managed to avoid capture by the Sith, won the Taris Dueling Championship, stole uniforms to get into the Lower City, learned I was a prisoner of the Vulkars, broke into the Black Vulkar base, gained sponsorship from the Hidden Beks, and became the Taris Swoop Champion. That is quite an achievement."

"What can I say, I'm a talented individual."

Kayle said; the corners of his mouth curling into another smirk.

"Yes I can see that, although your modesty certainly leaves a lot to be desired." I said.

The lack of modesty was a trait that Malak was well known for. Perhaps there was more of him left in Kayle then I had thought.

"Very well, that is all I wanted to know."

I said, turning on my heel and walked away. I had made up my mind to contact the Jedi Council, and alert them to the power I had been feeling while talking to Kayle.

We landed on one of the few landing pads located near the Jedi Enclave not long before dawn. Everyone was either asleep in their respective dormitories, or just getting to sleep (in Carth's case). I on the other hand, had just woken up. Deciding to use my time awake to discuss the situation with the Jedi Council, I got up from my bunk and snuck out of the Starboard Dormitory, which I shared with Zora and Mission.

I crept out of the Ebon Hawk and down some stairs into the Enclave itself.

Once inside the Jedi Enclave I no longer had to creep, as most of the students were already up. I walked into the Council Chambers to find three of the four Dantooine Council Members: Vandar, Zhar and Vrook. They had obviously not yet sensed my approach.

"Master Dorak is inspecting the Archives for any information on the Force cloaking." Vandar said.

"Good, the sooner we discover the identity of Revan's disguise the sooner we will find him." Vrook said.

"Indeed." Zhar said. "The longer Revan is among us, the more chance he has of-!"

"Padawan Bastila!" Vandar suddenly said. The other two Jedi Masters turned to look at me. Vandar stepped forward. "Heard of the tragedy at Taris, we did. To see you alive and well, we are glad."

"I too, am glad I survived the attack on Taris, but I'm afraid I did not come with good news." I said.

Vandar frowned, Zhar looked at me curiously. Vrook's face remained neutral, giving away nothing.

"The Force has begun to grow inside Kayle Starfire again. However, it is more then the flicker that was expected." I continued. "It is a powerful collective of Force energy; wild and untamed. I do not think we can leave him untrained without risk of losing him, once again, to the Dark Side."

The Masters' seemed to consider what I had said for a few minutes, and then Master Vrook spoke up.

"Bring him before us. It is for the Masters to approve training, not a willful Padawan," he said.

I was somewhat taken aback by his remark, but said nothing. I had learned long ago not to talk back to the Jedi Masters.

"Very well, at this time he is still sleeping." I said shakily. "I will bring him before the Council as soon as he awakens."

That said, I turned and left the Council Chambers. Vrook's remark had hurt me more then I had thought; I knew that it was the Council's choice as to who was trained and who was not trained, but I had merely been pointing out that to leave him untrained would be a danger to the Order. I hadn't meant any disrespect to them.

* * *

I waited for Kayle outside the Ebon Hawk for what seemed like hours. Perhaps, at that moment, I doubted how trustworthy the Council could be. From what I'd just witnessed, it seemed they could turn on anyone without warning, and I wasn't sure if I really wanted to be like that.

I quickly squashed those thoughts. How could I have even doubt the Jedi Council? They were the building blocks of our Order and beliefs! …who would teach us, if they couldn't be trusted? I shook my head, this is foolish nonsense! I told myself, and slapped my forehead, leaning against the wall weakly. My thoughts were starting to betray me...

"Hey, Bastila... Bastila, are you all right?" An insistent voice was calling my name and I opened my eyes to find myself staring up at Kayle. I swallowed, this could not be happening. I nodded, not trusting my voice and stood up, looking straight into those brilliant brown eyes.

"Would you mind backing up a little?" I asked, quickly regaining my thoughts, and using the Force to push Kayle backwards a little.

"What the-…?" He began, but I held up my hand and he fell quiet, obviously seeing this was not the time to complain to me.

Then I remembered the reason I'd been waiting outside the Ebon Hawk. "I've spoken with the Council; they wish to speak with you immediately."

"An audience with _the_ Jedi Council…?" Carth asked from behind Kayle. Until he'd spoken I hadn't even realized he was standing there. I must have doubted the Council much more, than I had thought ...if my senses had been that far off.

"They probably don't want to be kept waiting, huh?"

"I'm sorry Carth, but you may not accompany us." I said, and before Carth could object, I took Kayle's hand, though somewhat reluctantly, and pulled him into the Enclave.

I led Kayle down the halls of the Enclave, leaving Carth outside at the Ebon Hawk. Carth didn't argue about being left behind and Kayle didn't argue about being pulled along (although I let go of his hand as soon as we were inside). When we reached the doors to the Council Chambers, I stopped.

"Okay, bow when you enter, bow when you leave, don't speak unless they talk to you."

I had said this a thousand times before, having had to introduce many newly-promoted-apprentices to the Council, so I said it automatically.

Kayle merely raised an eyebrow and smirked at me and I wanted to strangle him for that, but this wasn't the time, I told myself.

As we entered, I saw that all four Council Members stood at the back of the room now, and Vandar spoke as we came closer.

"Ah, so you are the one who rescued Bastila on Taris." He said. "Welcome to the Jedi Enclave. I am Jedi Master Vandar. With me are Master Zhar, Master Vrook, and Master Dorak."

"We have called you here to discuss the matter of your newly manifesting Force powers." Zhar said. "Already your powers are strengthening beyond your control, and we believe that if we ignore it any longer we risk you falling to the Dark Side."

Vrook cleared his throat and spoke up. "This war against Darth Revan has ravaged the Jedi Order. Many Jedi have fallen in battle, slain by the Dark Jedi and Sith we fight. And many more have fallen to the lure of the Dark Side."

Vandar nodded as Vrook spoke, and then spoke up himself. "The Council would not normally accept an adult for training, but we believe this to be a special case." His gaze flickered to Bastila, then back Kayle.

"At this time, you are accepted into the Jedi Order as an initiate. You're Jedi Training will begin immediately."

* * *

Kayle had been training for about two weeks when he came into my quarters during my meditations.

"Is there something I can do for you Kayle?" I asked. Kayle stood there in the doorway for a moment longer, then came and sat down in front of me, crossing his legs as I had.

"Will you teach me to meditate?" He asked. I was somewhat taken aback, at least in a good way this time, by this request …but I nodded anyways. Then I began recalling everything Master Vrook had taught me to teach to Kayle.

"Okay, take a deep breath – let it out…and again…then empty your mind and clear your thoughts. Join you mind with the Force…_feel my thoughts…

* * *

_

_We stood before the great black stone door. I stood back a bit from my companion, someone in dark grey almost black robes, and wearing a crimson and black mask. I watched, in awe, as he pressed in the panel in the center of the door, and after a moment, it slid open._

_"Are you sure this is wise Revan?" I asked. With a wave of his cloak my companion, Revan, spun around, his hand raised and fingers curled as if he was gripping something, and I felt a claw like grip suddenly encircle my throat. He reached to my throat, trying to remove the grip. But it was useless. "My lord, forgive me…I would not question…your wisdom…re-release me, I plea…" And my throat was released. But I heard a snarl come through the voice synthesizer in Revan's mask._

_"Do not question me again, Malak!" He hissed, and turned away to walk into the next room. At the back of the room stood some strange tripod, curved like claws, sitting upon a second tripod._

_The three tall claw-like mechanisms separated like a giant black flower as we approached. From the center rose a small sphere of swirling light, that expanded to reveal a galaxy maps of green, blue and black lights. Our journey down the Dark Path had begun.

* * *

_

I opened my eyes, my gaze locking with Kayle's.

"Did you see it?" We asked in unison. My eyes widened. "…A vision!" We both said. Kayle stood, and helped me up. Our quarrels forgotten for the moment, we sprinted down the halls to the Council Chambers.

I quickly explained our vision to the Council, and they seemed absolutely dumbstruck. Vandar looked thoughtful, Zhar looked curious, Dorak looked fearful, Vrook looked like he always did.

"It would appear that this is a sign of a Force Bond, a link in destinies, a connection in fate." Vandar said. He closed his eyes in thought. "Your training must continue, more so now that this link has grown. For as long as you go untrained, you risk falling to the Dark Side, and this will put Bastila at risk of falling to the Dark Side."

And so we doubled our efforts in training, teaching Kayle the ways of the Jedi.

* * *

I was shocked, three weeks after the vision, when Zhar announced that Kayle was to be promoted to the rank of Padawan. I wasn't surprised, seeing as he already knew it, somewhere in his mind.

All that was left was for Kayle to pass the three tests of the Padawan Trials: 1. Recitation of the Jedi Code – 2. Construct a Lightsaber – 3. A final test set by the Jedi Master.

Kayle had memorized the Jedi Code the first time he heard it, and understood the meanings of all the lines after only an hour of contemplation. It had taken me years to understand the Code!

His lightsaber was build near perfectly; I suppose knowledge of actions remains with someone even after the destruction of the mind, as he had already constructed three lightsabers in his previous lifetime. He chose to become a Jedi Consular; the exact opposite of what Malak had been!

His final test was to acquire three items in the depths of the Enclave Lower Levels. They were sending him on a scavenger hunt in a part of the Enclave's normally forbidden to _Padawans_! He was only an _Initiate_! What was worse, they had forbidden me to accompany him. In fact, he had to face the trials of the Lower levels completely on his own.

Of course, just because I couldn't go with him, didn't mean I couldn't watch over him. At the time I told myself I just didn't want him to get himself killed, as that would cause me unthinkable pain.

I retired to my Enclave quarters, sat cross-legged on my bed, and allowed the Force to join with me, to allow the Force to merge with my thoughts, and my mind…

* * *

_I looked around the small room I'd dropped into. It was too dark to see, so I ignited my emerald green Lightsaber to light up the room. It worked, more or less, but it flooded the walls with an eerie green light._

_Keeping my lightsaber in front of me, I stepped forward and felt a tug at the back of my mind. With split second reactions I gathered the Force around me and Force-jumped into the air as the floor gave way beneath me._

_I landed on the very edge of the hole that had just formed beneath me, and used the Force to push myself forwards so I didn't fall back._

_"Who dares enter my domain?" _

_I looked up, searching the dark room for whoever had spoken. In my haste to land, I'd dropped my lightsaber next to me and it had deactivated._

_"Who walks my path while I feed on the night?" _

_The woman's voice again. As I stood I held out my hand and the lightsaber sailed up off the ground and into my hand. I tapped the activation button, and the green blade shot out of the hilt as a crimson blade appeared out of the darkness, the hilt held by a young Cathari woman, perhaps not even twenty-one years old. _

_But there was something wrong with her; her eyes were not the beautiful yellow of most Cathar, but a sickly, green-yellow. And her fur was matted and twisted and dark._

_"Leave me in my darkness!" She shouted, and I suddenly realized she was speaking in her native. But…since when did I understand the Cathar language?_

_I didn't get a chance to contemplate this, as she rushed forward, her blade striking in a flurry of movements. I managed to parry them without too much trouble, and then made my own attack on her, though it wasn't as accurate or fast as hers had been._

_The Cathar attacked me ferociously, enlisting the power Dark Side of the Force to aid her. But even with the Dark Side pulsing through her, when it finally looked like she would win, I turned the tide and began making my attacks more ferocious. This caught her off guard, and within moments I'd disarmed her._

_She screamed at me in some form of Cathari I didn't recognize, as if losing this battle had been her death sentence._

_"Calm down. I'm not here to hurt you." I whispered soothingly, trying to use the Force to cool her heated temper. She stopped screaming, though it may have been that she was out of breath, because she was taking in deep breaths as if she'd run a marathon._

_"Who are you?" I asked. She narrowed her eyes at me, but didn't scream again when she opened her mouth._

_"I am Juhani!" She snarled. "And this is my lair. These Lower levels are where I can rule the darkness and feed upon it. This is the place I came to, when I struck down my Master; when I bettered her in combat. It is _mine_!"_

_"You fell to the Dark Side?" I asked Juhani. She growled at me._

_"Maybe I fell…or maybe I broke the chains the Jedi place on their students! I will no longer be held back by the Council." She shouted, and before I could react, she had used the Force to pull her fallen Lightsaber off the ground and back into her hand. _

_I ignited my green saber just as the red blade of her saber ignited and struck, only to be blocked by the green blade._

_"Don't fight me Juhani!" I whispered. "If your freedom is what you truly want, forsake the Dark Side. It will only keep you wanting more…" I gathered the Force around me and thrust its power forward at Juhani, throwing her backwards against the wall._

_When she stood I could see changes in her. She had not forsaken the Dark Side entirely, but her face was recovering some of its former Cathar beauty._

_"You…you are strong…stronger, even then me, even after I embraced the Dark Side." She whispered. "I am pathetic. Here I am in this dank, dark, dampened place, consumed by my anger, and still I do not have the power I believed would be mine-should be mine!"_

_"That is the path of the Dark Side. You will always want more, and always get less." Kayle said._

_"But what else can I do?" Juhani whispered. "I struck down my Master in anger…I let my passions take control of me and killed Quatra in cold blood. How can the Council forgive me for that?"_

_"Show them that you have released yourself of these emotions." Kayle said. "Your serenity will prove your sincerity. Let the Force light the way."_

_"Perhaps…if I truly relinquished the power of the Dark Side, maybe, just maybe, they will allow me to rejoin the Order." Juhani said. "I thank you Master Jedi. Without your wisdom I would not have seen the truth. You have been a beacon of light to shine through my dark veil." Juhani bowed to me and I returned it. She then walked past me._

_I continued down the path, my lightsaber once again active to light the way. My encounter with Juhani had shaken me up somewhat, but I had to continue and finish my test._

_After walking for around half an hour, dealing with the occasional Laigrek, I found the first object: a Jedi Holocron. The Council had made me swear not to look at the Holocron, and did not much wish to anger the Council, so I placed it in a pocket of my robes and continued on._

_The second item I found was a small rock. The Council had told me it would be located in the hand of a statue of a Jedi Master. The statue was easy enough to find. It was the only one swathed in sparkling lights. I walked up to it and pulled the rock out of its hand._

_As soon as my fingers wrapped around the rock, it had started glowing a faint red. As I pulled it out of the grip of the statue's hand, I felt the rock crumble in my hand, and all that was left was a shining blood-red gem._

_Shrugging, I put the stone in another pocket, and went in search of the third and final item: an ancient lightsaber hilt._

_It was easier to find then I thought. Not far from where I'd found crystal, the Lightsaber had been placed on an elevated platform. I placed my hand around the cylindrical hilt, and lifted it off of the platform._

_"Thank you kindly…now, if you don't mind, hand those artifacts to me." _

_I turned to the synthesized voice to see the man from the vision. Hidden beneath the dark grey robes and crimson and black mask, Darth Revan had his Lightsaber ignited and was blocking my path to the exit._

"_Don't just stand there Jedi, hand over the Jedi Artifacts!" He hissed._

_"Give me one good reason why I should." I said._

_"I do not need to explain my reasons to a pathetic excuse for a Force user like you. Now hand them over!" Revan snarled._

_"Why didn't you just take them yourself?" I asked, trying to stall for time. _

_"They cannot be lifted from their resting places by one of the Dark Side…I had to have someone lift them all first. Now this is your last chance. I will have those artifacts."_

_"Over my dead body, Sith!" I shouted, igniting my lightsaber._

_"I was hoping so!" Revan said; rushing forward attack with a sudden flurry of power attacks against me. I parried them as best I could, but Revan, unlike me, was an expert swordsman, and backing a lightsaber up with expert swordsmanship would make the attacker extremely deadly._

_And he was. Within seconds he had me up against the wall fighting for me life. Another few seconds and he would've killed me and taken the artifacts for himself; but…_

_Except at that precise time, a second crimson blade sailed through the air and struck Revan, though doing nothing against the thick armour he wore._

_Revan turned to the Cathar woman fast approaching, then back to me._

_"Your time is up." _

_He used the Force to pull me forwards. I made an attempt to strike him with my blade, but he clenched his hand into a fist and crushed the lightsaber in a Force grip. By then our faces were inches apart, Juhani only about fifteen yards away._

_It was too late. I heard a release of breath from Revan and suddenly my entire body went cold, and my vision blurred. All strength in my body left me as Revan released his hold and I fell flat on my face. _

_"Another victim of my plague..." Revan whispered softly, and with a whirl of his cape fled down a side passage… _


	7. Chapter 6: Bastila's Lesson

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: No author's note onthis chapter.

Chapter 6: Bastila's Lesson

I was forced out of the meditation by a sudden lack of oxygen as I, too, was affected by the Force Plague, Revan had cast upon Kayle. Struggling to breathe as my lungs seized up, I crawled too communicator. My vision swam as I reached up and switched it on.

"Hel…help…me…Kayle…dying" Was all I managed before I lost consciousness.

I woke up in a bed in the infirmary. My vision swam for a moment as I opened my eyes, but I could make out Kayle leaning his chin on his hand and watching me.

"How are you feeling?" He asked. I smiled.

"Not bad, I thought perhaps I'd move some of my personal effects in here, I certainly seem to be spending a lot of time in one infirmary or another." I said jokingly. Kayle chuckled.

"You actually made a joke." He said, grinning. "I'm impressed."

I rolled my eyes. He could be so childish at times.

I saw movement at the end of the room and looked up, but it was only Mission, Carth and the Cathar woman Kayle met in the Lower Levels, Juhani.

"You two certainly gave us a scare." Carth said, walking up to us. Mission came up to Kayle and put a small vase on the bedside table next to his bed. In the vase was, some water and a dozen types of Dantooine flowers.

"Zalbaar and I picked these yesterday, and we decided that we'd give them to you today." She said. Kayle smiled thankfully at the Twi'lek girl.

"How long have we been in here?" I asked. Carth looked up, but it was Juhani who spoke.

"It has been almost a week since Kayle's Padawan Trials." She said. "Speaking of which, let me be the first to congratulate you on becoming a full member of the Jedi Order. The Council say you succeeded, even though you didn't make it back."

"That's great." Kayle said, sitting up, smiling happily.

I also sat up, delighted at Kayle's achievement. "Congratulations Kayle." I said sincerely, before suddenly feeling extremely sick in my stomach and vomiting up whatever I'd been given while unconscious, and embarrassing myself in front of the others.

We remained in the Infirmary for another three days before the healers decided we were fully recovered. Not a minute after we'd left the Infirmary, the Council called forth Kayle, myself and, too our surprise, Juhani.

Master Vandar and Master Vrook were the only two who were present. We three Padawans walked into the Council Chambers.

"Ah, it is good to see the two of you have recovered." Vandar said. "For your next mission is extremely important and requires for you to be well rested."

"Our Chronicler, Master Dorak, has researched the Ruins of your vision extensively in the archives." Vrook said. "However, there is little information on them. For that reason, we sent a Jedi team to the Ruins to investigate. They have not returned.

He paused for a moment, and continued on. 'After your success in the Lower Levels, we have decided to send the two of you to the Ruins. Padawan Juhani has requested to accompany you, and after some much deliberation, we have decided to grant her request." He finished.

Well, that did explain why Juhani had been called before the Council with us. None the less, I was not entirely comfortable taking her with us.

The Dark Side had felt powerful in that place, even in our vision, and I wasn't too sure I wished to take someone who had only just left the Dark Side to a place so strong in it.

We left the Enclave, Kayle leading the way. But not before we left, we found ourselves being shouted at by a very distressed man. Apparently, the Mandalorian raiders had murdered his daughter, and he was accusing of the Jedi of inaction against the Mandalorians again, just like in the war.

Kayle looked thoughtful for a moment after being shouted at, and then, he activated his comlink and muttered something into it. We waited for about ten minutes before Carth, Zalbaar and Canderous came out the Enclave doors, followed closely by Mission and T3-M4.

"So, I'm guessing that means you guys are interested?" Kayle said, seeing our five companions from Taris all well armed. The man who'd been complaining, Jon, I believe his name was, fell silent…for a few seconds; then he thought of something else to complain about.

"You're sending a Mandalorian to fight Mandalorians?" He shouted. "What kind of fool are you? The brute is likely going to turn on you as soon as he sees them."

Canderous opened his mouth to say something, but Kayle was much faster. He had stepped forward and taken the man by the front of his tunic.

"Judging a man by what his species has done is no better then people judging the entire race of humans by your actions or beliefs." Kayle snarled.

"He's willing to aid you in avenging your daughter's death and all you can do is bring up something that happed over a year ago! Get out of my sight!" He shoved the man out of the way and walked away, fuming.

I sprinted after him, Juhani right behind me. Canderous led his group away in another direction, toward the Matale land, as that was where the Mandalorians were last seen.

…Neither of us, Juhani and myself; spoke to him as we reached the ruined temple of black stone; Kayle was irritated, angry even.

I did not think it was wise to talk to him about the result of such it emotions at the time, making a guess it would not help to cool his heated temper.

Instead, I simply watched as Kayle opened the door into the temple, and stepped through. I walked forward to follow him, but as I reached the doorway, I suddenly felt electricity pulse through my body and was thrown backwards to the ground. Juhani rushed to my side, the Cathar Jedi taking my hand and helping me stand.

Kayle had felt my pain and turned back to look at me, but was not fast enough as the great stone doors slammed shut. As the doors shut, I also felt our connection weakening. Perhaps there was some kind of Dark Side aura or bubble around the temple that was neutralizing the connection.

I closed my eyes, hoping to send a message through our bond._ Kayle…? Kayle, you must do this alone. It appears we are not to aid you, and so we will wait._

I felt his already fading presence become almost nothing. I focused trying to stay connected to him like when he'd gone into the Lower Levels of the Enclave, and on Taris when he'd gone to meet Canderous.

But, no matter how hard I tried, I could not penetrate the strange defences of the Temple.

Until, somehow, the doors slid open again. I heard a beeping, which was my comlink. I activated it, and Kayle's voice came through.

"_All the doors have been opened and the Force-defences have been deactivated. Any resistance the Temple once had has been beaten._" He said.

"Okay, do not go any further until we have reached you." I ordered.

"_Okay._" Kayle said. "_Kayle out…_"

Juhani and I stepped through the archway that was the door to the temple, and Juhani suddenly hissed.

"This is no Dark Side Temple." She whispered. "It is a tomb!"

I looked around. Indeed, the floor of this room was littered with the bodies of Jedi. As was the next room where, Kayle was waiting for us impatiently.

"I came in here to find them all dead." Kayle said. "At first I thought they'd been killed by the Battle Droids that guard the entrance. But then I took a closer looked at one of the bodies."

I knelt down and looked at the body of an aged Jedi, probably in his late sixties. He had a look of utter terror on his face. And he had not been killed by blaster, or fire, but-

"Those are lightsaber wounds!" I exclaimed, shocked. "The team of Jedi the Council sent here… they must have been killed by Dark Jedi."

Kayle nodded. "But what I found strangest was that there was not one Dark Jedi body, anywhere. These were full Jedi Knights and Masters. One would think that they'd have killed at least a couple of Dark Jedi."

Juhani sniffed the air. "It is strange; I cannot smell any Dark Jedi. Most have a certain odor, like decay. She glanced at me and Kayle with a puzzled look on her face; "Yet I do not smell any."

I nodded. Even without the advanced smell of a Cathar, I often noticed the stench of a Dark Jedi.

"Come, we will dwell on this later. For now, we must continue our mission." I said. Kayle nodded. He led the way through an open door, into the last, and darkest of the rooms.

At the back of the room stood the same strange tripod that we'd seen in our vision.

The three tall claw-like mechanisms separated like a giant black flower as we approached. From the center rose a small sphere of swirling light, that expanded to reveal a galaxy maps of green, blue and black lights.

"What is it?" I whispered.

"It's some kind of Galactic Map." Kayle said. "Probably leads too the Star Forge."

"The Star Forge…?" I whispered.

"Oh, right, you don't know." Kayle said. "I met some type of droid back there before you and Juhani came in; it called itself the Guardian, or Overseer. It kept mentioning a Star Forge, the 'pride of the Infinite Empire' whatever that is."

Juhani suddenly looked closer at the map. "If my calculations a correct, that world looks like Kashyyyk. And if it is, that would mean this planet is Manaan, and Tatooine. And that is the Sith World, Korriban."

Kayle nodded, though he was still looking at the map. "It's not a complete map." He suddenly announced. "There are parts missing."

I narrowed my eyes, and saw that he was right. There were indeed pieces of the galaxy missing from the map; parts I knew should be there.

"Do you think perhaps there are more pieces of the map on those worlds?" Kayle suggested. "Like a puzzle, and perhaps together they'll lead us to the Star Forge."

"But…what is the Star Forge?" Juhani said, turning her gaze to Kayle. "Is it perhaps a factory?"

"It's possible." I answered, before Kayle could. "It would explain the Sith's endless fleet. But I feel that it is more then a mere factory.

'We should report our findings to the Jedi Council. They will know what to do."

Kayle nodded, and he walked up to the map, pulling out a data-recorder and scanning the map into it.

We left the Dark Side temple, running at high speed to get away from it quickly.

When we finally got onto the Enclave grounds, we slowed down. I looked around. Even though the sun was setting, there was still enough light to see that Jon was no where to be found.

I didn't worry about it. With any luck, he'd gotten sick of complaining and gone home.

We went through the halls of the Enclave, and to the Council Chambers. After reporting our findings, the Council told us to retire to the Ebon Hawk while they discussed the new information.

Juhani left for her Enclave quarters not long after we left the Chambers. However, Kayle insisted she joined us on the Ebon Hawk. After some persuasion, she agreed.

As we approached the freighter, Kayle suddenly chuckled. "I bet Carth and Canderous killed each other today over who killed the most Mandalorians."

I nodded, doing my best not to smile. "Yes, you are probably right." I said. But then I suddenly heard laughter. "Is that Carth?"

"And that sounds like Canderous." Kayle said, as a gruff laugh came down the ramp.

We walked up the ramp and found Carth and Canderous in the living quarters, which doubled as a garage, obviously drunk; laughing like maniacs.

Kayle and I both stood there, stunned.

"Ummm, Carth…? Canderous…?" Kayle whispered. "You two okay?"

"What?" Carth said, only just noticing they were standing there. "Oh, Kayle, how you doing, eh…?"

"Er…what happened out there?" Kayle asked. But the two soldiers simply started laughing, well, gurgling by now.

Shrugging, Kayle left the garage and went into the Starboard Dormitory, where we found Mission tinkering with some kind of device with T3-M4.

"Hey, Mission, what happened to the two drunks in the Living Area/Garage?" Kayle asked. Mission giggled.

"I don't know what happened with the Mandalorians, but those two were at each other's throats when Big Z, T3 and I split to go exploring." She said. "And when we got back, we found those two, on their fourth bottle of Telosian Rum, and laughing like a couple of old friends."

Kayle had a look of utter disbelief on his face.

"Are you kidding me? Carth…and Canderous…?" He muttered. Still with a look of disbelief, he turned and left the dormitory.

About an hour later, I found Kayle in the men's dormitory, Carth and Canderous were still drinking in the garage, and Zalbaar was in the storage compartment checking the supplies. I decided to ask him something that had been on my mind for most of the day.

"Kayle, do you think you may have come down a little hard on that man, I mean, his daughter had just died." I said.

"Maybe, maybe not..." Kayle said. He stopped what he was doing, sketching something on a data-scanner, and looked up at me.

"Okay, just for a minute," he said earnestly, "just think …of yourself in his place back there. You've just lost a war and your people have lost everything. You want to start anew.

'But you can't because everyone else sees you only as you were during the war. No one will help you, because they will only see you as a brute and a monster that killed thousands of innocent civilians and people on their side. And they definitely will _not_ see everything you've lost."

I was somewhat taken aback by his outburst, but in a way, I could see the sense in it. Canderous had indeed proven himself to us when he'd helped us off Taris, but I'd not accepted him as part of the crew like everyone else had.

Juhani, who apparently had come to speak with him also, suddenly spoke up.

"I see you have great wisdom Kayle." She said. "When I saw you traveled with a Mandalorian, I saw only the ones who destroyed the Cathar Homeworld." She fell silent for a moment. "It is, ironic, really, that I would judge others as I many once judged me."

I thought for a moment about what he had said. "Juhani is right. You are wise." I said. "It seems I still have much to learn; about being a Jedi, and about myself." I bowed out and returned to the Starboard Dormitory. Mission and T3 vacated the room, seeing I needed space.

I had a long, and thankfully, visionless, sleep that night; and was awake early to go in to meet the Council.

Kayle was also up, and was trying on his new Jedi Robes. After that, the two of us left the Ebon Hawk to speak with the Council.

When we arrived in the chambers, only Master Zhar was present to greet us. Kayle and Zhar had a short conversation about Juhani's redemption, before Master Vandar and Master Dorak arrived, and then finally, Master Vrook.

"Now that we are all gathered, it is time we told of what we know." Vandar said. "Master Dorak has spent much of the night searching the Jedi Archives. Sadly, there is almost no information on this Star Forge."

"For that reason, the Council is in agreement that you and Bastila shall travel to the four worlds believed to hold a Star Map." Zhar said.

Kayle nodded, then spoke up. "With your permission Masters, there are others I wish to join me in our mission."

Vandar nodded. "Of course, those who aided you on Taris will be accompanying you also." He said. "All of them hold skills that may prove indispensable in your mission."

"And Juhani will also join be joining you." Vrook said. "Do not forget the lesson she holds; the lure of the Dark Side if very difficult to resist. I fear that following the trail of Revan and Malak, will lead you down an all too familiar path."

"I will do my best to remain true to the Light, Masters." Kayle said with the utmost sincerity, and then bowed out of the Chambers. We were taking our first steps down a very shadowed path.


	8. Chapter 7: Zaalbar’s Secret

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: No author's note this chapter.

Chapter 6: Zaalbar's Secret

I walked into my quarters, meaning to get my lightsaber, some upgrade crystals, and the data-clips of my father and me when I was a baby. If the Jedi knew I carried the clips, it would be likely they would take them from me.

I suddenly felt like something wasn't right. As I swept the crystals into a pouch, I felt the Force nudging my thoughts. I discarded the warning, not seeing what could be wrong with gathering some extra crystals.

With my small gathering of possessions in hand, I made my way to the Ebon Hawk.

As I entered, I saw Juhani and Zora were speaking in the living area. Canderous was at the workbench.

As I passed through the central room, I saw Zaalbar and Mission were adding some extra power-arms to T3, and giving his special 'shock-arm' three power levels higher than before.

Kayle and Carth were, as far as I knew, in the cockpit going over the galaxy map.

And Seth and Erik had lowered the bunks and were sparring in the Port Dormitory.

But I went into the Starboard Dormitory and sat on one of the four bunks, deciding to meditate. As I gathered the Force around me, I saw flashes. Revan and I facing each other on the bridge of the Star Phoenix…

Leia rushing away to fight the Dark Jedi…Kayle blasting his way through the Vulkars to reach me…Kayle igniting his lightsaber as Revan rushed him, the crimson saber already ignited…and then I saw myself, in my quarters gathering some items as I had that evening.

But instead of the items I had gathered, my lightsaber and data-clips and crystals, I saw the archaic lightsaber Kayle had retrieved and several datapads from the Jedi Archives. I did not see any blood-red crystal, but that was little comfort.

I opened my eyes, instantly ending the vision. Fearing what it had meant, I knelt down in front of my footlocker and put in the access code.

I gasped as it opened and I saw the lightsaber, the datapads from the archives and shining out of the pouch, the blood red gem Kayle had retrieved from the Lower levels.

I slammed the footlocker shut, breathing heavily. How could I have taken those things? I didn't remember seeing them in my room.

Then a thought occurred to me: Could Revan have somehow altered my thoughts and made me think I was seeing my lightsaber and other objects instead of what was really there?

I got up quickly, deciding to deal with this later. Since we'd already taken off, I would have to start constructing a new lightsaber, and that would take some time.

I worked non-stop for most of what would be a night if we weren't in hyperspace to construct a new lightsaber. By the time I had finished, only the hilt was constructed and it still needed to be put together.

No one else was awake, except T3 of course, but he wasn't much company and neither of us, bothered each other during the night.

I locked my soon-to-be lightsaber in one of the dozen compartments built into the workbench and then went to bed in the Starboard Dormitory.

The next 'morning', I woke to find Zora, Mission and Juhani all still fast asleep on there bunks. I slowly crept out off of mine and out of the dormitory and into the living area/garage, where I found Carth sitting on one of the chairs with a mug of coffee in his.

"Well, it's nice to see you didn't die of intoxication." I said, walking past Carth to start building my lightsaber again.

"Oh…don't yell…" Carth hissed, sagging in his chair.

Sighing, I took pulled out the lightsaber, collecting some pieces I would need and then went and locked myself in the engine room. There was something soothing about a hyperdrive engine, and it got me away from the others.

I spent several hours locked in the hyperdrive with my collection of different materials and crystals and such that I needed to construct the lightsaber. When I was finally finished, I examined the hilt.

It was something like the horn of a Kath Hound, slender at one end and larger at the other. I'd also used the Force to manipulate the iron and curved the hilt, for extra maneuverability.

I closed my eyes, and hit the activation button. There was a snap-hiss, signaling it was correctly built, and then the low hum of the saber mixed in with the hyperdrive engine. I opened my eyes and saw the brilliant orange saber blade.

Smiling at my achievement, I deactivated the blade and hooked it onto my belt and unlocked the engine room door.

For the next few days, nothing much happened. Nothing much could happen in Hyperspace. Then, on the fourth night, Kayle gathered everyone in the living area for what we thought would be a discussion about the mission.

He surprised everyone by revealing three small tables, all of which had three seats and three Pazaak decks, saying that going into something this important with a huge weight on your mind was not a good thing to do.

So therefore, everyone would be joining in a session of Nar Shadaar rules with a combination of Republic rules.

Everyone took a seat except me. Kayle, Canderous and Mission, being the best players, would play without a partner. Zaalbar and T3 then went to Mission's table, Carth and Erik sat with Canderous and Zora and Seth sat with Kayle.

"Come on Bastila, don't be a spoil sport." Kayle said as I turned to leave. "Join in the fun."

I relented. As much as I didn't want to admit it, he was right. It was not a good idea to rush into something as important as the mission with a heavy mind.

I went and sat down next to Zora, and the two of us played Nar Shadaar rules against Seth and Kayle. After losing the first couple games, I got the hang of it, and Zora and I started winning.

A lot! In fact, I started enjoying myself. By the end of the night, Zora and I had won all of Seth and Kayle's plastic chips.

Then I got up and went to sleep in the dormitory. Then all the fun we'd been having was replaced the visions of Malak's path.

_…deep in the darkness of the Shadowlands of Kashyyyk…as the mighty beast roared…and questions answered revealed the location…the tripod separated to reveal the Star Map…_

Early the next morning, as we came out of Hyperspace above the Wookie world, Kayle and I discussed the vision of the Star Map.

"Do you suppose the Wookies know about it?" Kayle suggested. I shrugged.

"It's possible I suppose. But very few Wookies travel into the Shadowlands beneath their homes in the wroshyr branches." I said. "No doubt we will learn more when we find it."

Kayle nodded, and went into the Port Dormitory to gather anything we'd need in our journey to find the Star Map.

I returned to the Starboard Dormitory to retrieve my lightsaber and a warm cloak. It was likely to be extremely cold in the Shadowlands.

But when I reached the dormitory, I found the lock on my footlocker broken and everything except my newly built lightsaber and one set of robes taken.

This could only mean that my suspicions had been correct. Revan was with us on this ship, and he'd used me to get the items Kayle had retrieved from the Lower Levels. Obviously, they were of some value to the former dark lord.

I would have to keep a close eye on what happened over the next few weeks.

Everyone gathered in the living area/garage, and we split into three groups. Zaalbar, Kayle, Juhani and I would scout the walkway and find any way down into the Shadowlands; Mission, T3, Zora and Seth would gather any information about the world that we would find useful; Canderous, Carth and Erik would remain behind to do any repairs on the Ebon Hawk.

With all that decided, Zaalbar, Juhani, Kayle and I left the Ebon Hawk with Zora, Seth, Mission and T3. We were greeted by a Czerka dock worker, a smug Ithorian with a look that reminded me of Davik in some way.

He stood there giving telling us about all the brilliants of 'Edean', while one of his bulbous eyes watched Zaalbar greedily. When he demanded we pay the docking fee, Kayle glanced side-ways at me, and I obliged; reasoning Czerka had enough credits.

"We don't need to pay the docking fee…Czerka can afford to let us dock for free." I whispered persuasively, backing it up with the Force. The Ithorian got a blank look in his eyes and then he spoke in his own language.

"_You don't need to pay the docking fee…Czerka can afford to let you dock for free._" The Ithorian turned, still with a blank look in his eyes, and walked down the walkway. I smirked despite myself and having used the Force for something reasonably enjoyable.

Then we separated, Mission's group following the Ithorian whilst we headed towards two large wooden doors.

As we neared the doors, I noticed an orange-skinned Twi'lek woman walking up to us. I stopped and turned to find out what she wanted, but she spoke before I could say anything.

"_Excuse me; you wouldn't be Bastila would you?_" The woman asked. I was a bit shocked, but nodded.

"Yes, I am Bastila." I said. "May I ask who you are?"

"_Oh, I'm not surprised you don't remember me…you were barely two years old the last time I saw you._" The Twi'lek woman said. "_I was just wondering how your mother was fairing. I dare say though, her illness was definitely taking its toll on her the last time we met._"

"…Illness?" I was too stunned to say anything else.

"_Yes…are you saying she never got in contact with you?_" The woman asked, almost as shocked as I was.

"I have not heard from, or seen my mother since I joined the Jedi Order." I said. "What did you mean by illness?"

"_Your…your mother was quite ill when I last saw her._" She explained. "_She-she said that she'd been searching for you for months. And…there is something else…your father is…he's dead._"

My mouth fell open and tears welled up in my eyes. After twenty years away from my father, the news of his death affected me as if I'd only been away from him for one day.

I took a deep breath asked a question I'd wished and yet dreaded the answer to since I'd joined the Order. "Do you know where I can find my mother?"

"_The last I heard, Helena was on Tatooine._" The Twi'lek told me. "_That was less then a week ago, it is likely she's still there._"

I nodded, and thanked the woman for the information, and she sprinted off, toward the Czerka warehouse.

Kayle started to say something, narrowed my eyes and shook my head, and he understood I needed time to think on what I'd just learned.

After a short conversation with one of the gate guards about the Wookiees, which ended with Kayle using the Force to cause both guards to forget the entire conversation after Zaalbar made threatening movements toward one of them, we passed through gates and out to the Great Walkway.

We hadn't gone far before we were attacked by a dozen of the forest Kinrath. However, between three lightsabers and a Wookie Bowcaster, the Kinrath didn't stand a chance.

Not far ahead of that, we suddenly found ourselves witness to four men in Czerka uniforms, one of them wearing the uniform of a Czerka captain, standing around the body of a dead Wookie.

"What happened here?" Kayle demanded.

"Not that it's any of your business, but this Wookie got a little…violent, and we had to put it down." The captain said tersely.

"_Put _it_ down! We're not animals!_" Zaalbar roared furiously.

"You murdered him!" Juhani hissed, her hand going to her lightsaber. However, she hesitated, looking back at me.

I suppose the news of my fathers death had awakened some repressed anger which I was, right now, all too happy to use to make the Czerka suffer. I'd already retrieved and ignited the brilliant orange blade of my curved lightsaber.

"What, you think just because you carry one of those little light sticks, you can intimidate us?" The captain said. "In case you didn't notice, Czerka rules the walkways. You know, I just realized that this Wookie went mad and attacked these spacers, and we just didn't get here in time."

It was all I needed. Before the captain had even reached for his blaster I was in front of him with my lightsaber blade driven right through his chest.

Juhani had also raced forward, neatly cutting one of her targets arms off and then using the Force and send him flying backwards and snapping his neck on a low hanging branch.

Zaalbar raised his bowcaster and fired a volley of close-range shots, blasting a dozen holes in the chest of his target, and Kayle dealt with the final, deflected the blaster bolts with his saber and sending them back at the Czerka filth, before reaching him and easily severing the mans torso from his body, and letting him fall off the walkway to be food for the Katarns on the forest floor.

I was still fuming as we continued down the walkway, taking out twenty years of anger on the predators and then a trio of Dark Jedi, barely giving Kayle, Juhani or Zaalbar a chance to battle with them.

Kayle and Zaalbar collected the lightsabers of the fallen Dark Jedi, as well as the rare Barab Ore, which Kayle gave to me to strengthen my lightsaber.

Not long after our encounter with the Dark Jedi, Zaalbar suddenly stopped.

"_It has been so long…I should have better prepared you for what lay ahead._" He said. I narrowed my eyes at him, but Kayle was the one who spoke.

"What do you mean Zaalbar?" He asked.

"_Mission would have told you that I left Kashyyyk fleeing slavers, but that is only a half truth._" Zaalbar answered. "_The whole truth is that the only reason the slavers got a foot hold is because my brother betrayed us to the Czerka._

"_When I learned of his treachery, I-I became frenzied. I was furious, and I…I attacked him with my claws._"

Juhani purred softly, or maybe she was hissing. "I do not understand…what is wrong with attacking with your claws?"

"_We do not use our claws for offensive purposes. They are tools, not weapons._" Zaalbar explained. "_When I attacked Chuundar with my claws, I shed my honour and became no better then the Katarns that walk the forest floor. I was exiled from my tribe and my world, no longer seen as a sentient being._"

Juhani nodded. "I understand. My people have…had a similar tradition; if one of us attacked a sister or brother, they would have their warrior's tail severed, and become an exile, only able to reenter the Cathari community when their warriors tail had grown, and then only if they were adopted by another clan."

"_I should have better prepared you for this._" Zaalbar said. "_I do not believe you are ready._"

"Do not worry Zaalbar." Kayle said, determinedly, with reassurance evident in his voice. "We'll deal with it when the time comes."

It was not long after that we reached Zaabar's old village, Rwookrrorro. However, the greeting was not unlike a Kath Hound greeting a trespasser.

"_Go back from whence you came, offworlder!_" roared the Wookie guard. "_Do not bring this taint upon my people!_"

"Uh, taint?" Kayle didn't understand. Neither did I, actually; though I had an inkling of what the Wookie had meant.

"_He means me._" Zaalbar said.

"I am here to see your Chieftain." Kayle said. "Zaalbar will walk with me!"

"_Your tainted slave will walk with you…if only to Mighty Chuundar's hut!_" The Wookie guard said.

"_Mighty Chuundar...?_" Zaalbar snorted in a Wookie-like-way. We were escorted by three Wookies into the village and toward the Chieftains hut.

Chuundar, it seemed, had to have a large audience before he could speak, as he sent several more Wookies to gather the rest of the crew.

We waited for half an hour before Chuundar sent another group of Wookie hunters out to find out what had happened. Fifteen left, only one returned.

"_The Dark One has come to walk our paths. I have seen him, like a shadow upon our trees; And beneath him, our greatest warriors, with no sign of the cause of death._" One hunter said, and Chuundar promptly executed the luckless hunter for his failure.

"_You have brought death to my people!_" Chuundar said, though anyone with half a brain could tell he knew we were not the cause of his warriors' death.

"_I could have you and all your crew executed immediately, if my brother Zaalbar did not walk with you._"

"Brother?" Kayle turned to look at Zaalbar. "This is the one you attacked?"

"_Yes, that is my brother the traitor._" Zaalbar said.

"_Enough talk!_" Chuundar roared. "_You have brought a taint to this world. The Dark One will punish you severely, unless…_"

He stopped to make it sound dramatic. "_Unless you choose to do good by…eliminating one or two problems…deep in the Shadowlands, there are two pests…a human, Joow-lea I think is his name…and another Mad-claw like my brother, who thought to put an end to my rule._"

"Someone turned against you?" Kayle smirked. "Perhaps he was the first of many?"

"_Do not think to turn my people against me, human!_" Chuundar growled. "_They will not listen to an offworlder._"

"_Are you so sure, _Mighty Chuundar" Zaalbar was sure the sarcasm could be heard in the last couple words. "_I think perhaps there is another!_"

"_He is dead, Zaalbar._" Chuundar growled, and I was sure I could sense glee in his tone. "_Our father was killed by the Czerka._"

"_No…you…you're lying…_" Zaalbar stammered.

Three Czerka men suddenly raised the blasters and fired shots intended to stun at Zaalbar.

Kayle ignited his lightsaber faster then I would have thought possible. Juhani and I followed suit almost instinctually, igniting our lightsabers and all three of us rushing forwards to deflect the shots back to where they came from, rendering the three Czerka rats unconscious.

"_Hmmm, your owner is very protective of you Zaalbar. I had no idea you could be so valuable._" Chuundar sneered.

"I do not own Zaalbar!" Kayle shouted; his green saber still active but no longer in an offensive position. "He follows me because of a life debt."

"Oh, and here I thought you were beneath those Zaalbar, being a mad-claw." Chuundar said. I the glint of steel before Kayle, and threw my lightsaber through the air.

As Chuundar swung his vibrosword to kill Zaalbar, my lightsaber, guided by the Force, moved in front of Zaalbar and blocked the sword.

Kayle lips curled into a snarl. "That's the second attempt you've made to take Zaalbar's life." He snapped. "For someone who is in need of our strength, you certainly have a strange way of doing it."

Chuundar roared at Kayle, not saying anything, just roaring. "_If you have any intention of leaving this village alive, you will obey me!_"

Kayle looked around the room. Between three Jedi and a Wookie, it was likely that Chuundar wouldn't be able to stop us. But it would also risk the Wookies who only fought because Chuundar was chieftain, not because they actually wanted to.

"Very well, we'll do what you wish…" Kayle said. He turned to leave. We made our way to the door, but three tall Wookies suddenly stood in Zaalbar's way.

_"Zaalbar shall stay behind, so as to assure me of your obedience and return."_ Chuundar said.

Reluctantly, and only after looking the three Wookies up and down, Kayle nodded at Juhani and I, and we walked out of the hut.

We traveled through the village, receiving disgusted looks from the Wookies. We left the village, and found our way around the winding paths of the Great Walkway.

We suddenly found ourselves in a battle alongside three Wookies against at least a dozen Czerka slavers. I ignited by orange lightsaber and began deflecting blaster bolts and parrying sword attacks.

Kayle was tearing through them, his lightsaber an arc of green light, whilst Juhani was letting loose powerful attacks against the Czerka.

We eventually killed all the slavers that were attacking the Wookies, and we learned that the leader of the hunting group was a friend of the mad Wookie we had been sent to kill.

Kayle assured Chorrawl that he had no intention of doing Chuundar's dirty work. After some persuasion, we learned something very odd: the mad-claw was in fact Freyyr, Zaalbar's father.

Chorrawl offered to gather anyone else who would support Freyyr, and Kayle gladly accepted the help. Upon siding with Freyyr, a few of Chorrawls hunting party attacked us, but we dealt with them quickly.

After a quick discussion, Chorrawl and the remaining hunting party leapt toward the trees off of the walkway and began springing from tree to tree toward the other villages.

We then found Gorwooken, the Wookie who would help take us down into the Shadowlands.

The trip down took several hours, and was extremely boring. What we met at the bottom was Calo Nord and five Wookiees working with him.

"I though you died on Taris." I said, igniting my lightsaber.

"Oh no, I'm very hard to kill little Jedi." Calo said. "And I've been paid great amount to bring you back with me!"

Juhani and Kayle had both ignited there lightsabers and stepped forward. "…Over my dead body!" Kayle snapped back, waving his saber threateningly.

"I certainly hope so." Calo said. "Okay boys, let's go!" He raised his blaster and fired a continuous stream of shots toward Kayle, forcing instantly on the defensive, and making it impossible for him to join in the battle.

And the five Wookies were making it very difficult to get to Calo, with the cotorsis weave vibroblades it was difficult to get at them.

Just when it looked like we were going to lose this battle, there was a snap-hiss and a second green light appeared in the semi-darkness and an aged, dark skinned man sprinted toward us, driving his saber through the back of an unsuspecting Wookie, and the throwing the lightsaber through the air to sever the head of a second.

The third wookie it was aimed at on its return trip to the man managed to dodge and only lost its arm. Of course, then it was killed by a second slash from Juhani, as the wookie she'd been battling had been distracted by the newcomer and she managed to stab it through the chest.

Kayle continued to defend against Calo, who seemed to be unaware of anything except the fact that his target was quickly tiring from the constant assault of blaster fire.

I took down the final Wookie, then Juhani, the old man and I all attacked Calo. Juhani first took out his blasters, slicing the ends off of them, and causing them to explode, blasting all of us a dozen feet backwards.

I recovered first, and then Calo. He pulled out a vibroblade as I sprinted towards him, my lightsaber ignited once again.

Kayle joined me soon after, making it a lot easier to take down the Bounty Hunter. Once Calo was dead, Kayle searched his remains and found a datapad, with information on every crew member except Erik and Seth.

Then we turned to meet the man who had saved us.

"We sure are lucky you showed up when you did." Kayle said.

"Ah, tish-tosh, you were doing perfectly fine without me." The old man said.

"So, just who are you?" I asked.

"The name's Jolee, Jolee Bindo." He said with an amused air in his tone.

Kayle started to say something but Jolee shook his head. "Not here; too many little critters then can kill us here. We'll talk back in my hut."


	9. Chapter 8: Bacca's Sword

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: Nothing to report.

Chapter 7: Bacca's Sword

Jolee led us back to his hut, which turned out to be a non-working ship with the chairs turn into beds. At the back, on of the engines had been turned into an oven.

"So, now that we're safe in my humble home, how can an old man help you?" He asked.

"That depends." Kayle said. "Do you know anything about a star map?"

"Oh… A star map, huh? Hmmm, yes, they're not common you know." Jolee pretended to think for a moment. "Ah, yes. I think I came across one of those not long ago, like, eight, maybe nine years ago."

Jolee chuckled. Kayle just stared at him.

"Can you get us to it?"

"Humph!" Jolee said. "Kids today are so impatient." He sighed. "Yes, I know where the blasted star map is!"

"Can-you-take-us-to-it?" Kayle asked slowly in frustration.

"Even if I wanted too, I couldn't?"

"Oh really?" Kayle sneered.

"Yes, yes, really. You haven't been very patient with me, why should I be patient with you?" Jolee asked.

Kayle started saying something but Juhani stepped in front of him.

"Please forgive our friend; he isn't a very patient man." She turned and looked at him for a moment, then back to Jolee.

"Oh, yes, I noticed that." Jolee said, smiling at the Cathar's politeness. "And who might you be?"

"I am Juhani. Kayle rescued me from the Darkness back on Dantooine." Juhani said. "Please, we must find the Star Map; is there anyway we can prove ourselves?"

"Well Juhani, as I said, I can't get you to the Star Map." Jolee said. "You see, I could get there just fine, until about a week ago. I think…you don't get very much sun down here so it's hard to tell the time…where was I?

The old man frowned and tapped his forehead for a moment and smiled, speaking again.

"Oh, right, the Star Map…anywho, the Czerka decided to move down into the Shadowlands. That didn't bother me too much; they left me alone for the most part. But you see, I had the feeling that they were spying on me during my trips to the Lower Shadowlands.

"So, one thing leads to another, I wake up one morning, go on my morning stroll, and there's a dirty great energy shield blocking my path.

He shrugged, "I tried to get them to turn it off, but they said it was there to protect them from the dangerous creatures of the Shadowlands…heh, I saw those Sonic Emitters they installed the day before. They just put the energy field up to spite me. And now I hear that they've started poaching the Tach.

Jolee gave Kayle a hard look, all humor gone from his manner. "So, here's the deal, you deal with the poachers, and I'm sure I can find something in their camp that'll disable the energy field."

He raised an eyebrow, "if you're able to be patient enough for that?"

Kayle grinded his teeth and nodded, "I'll do it, old man, you just better hold up your end of the bargain." He turned and stalked out of the room.

Both Juhani and I could tell that Kayle was not exactly thrilled by the offer, but he was obviously smart enough to see it was our only choice.

We walked along the overgrown forest trail for at least an hour before there was slightest sign of anything manmade. Actually, it was a malfunctioning droid.

"Can you get it working? There may be something useful in its hard drive we could use." I said.

Kayle nodded. He pulled the outer shell of its head away, and began rearranging the wires, hot-wiring the droids playback system.

There was a second of static electricity, and then the image of three men, coming from the view of the droid, appeared before them.

Each of them looked like they were ready to have a heart attack, obviously not the type of people to be exploring the Shadowlands.

"_Where the hell is Eli? He told us to meet him down here._" One of the men whispered, looking around. Then a slimy looking man walked into view, carrying a hand-held blaster cannon.

"_Eli, it's about time you- Hey, what're ya doin'? Hey-HEY-!_" The man called Eli suddenly fired a volley of blaster fire from his cannon, ending the transmission.

The three of us just stared at where the images had been. Kayle then suddenly pulled out his com link. He activated and spoke into it for a moment, and then Erik's voice was heard, though there was a lot of static.

"Erik, see if you can find some guy called Eli. If you do, knock him out, tie him down, and wait for us to get back up there." Kayle said tersely; "there's a few things I need to say to him."

"_You got it_." Erik said. "_By the way, Mission's team is back. Both she and Zora want to go to Tatooine next. Mission said her brother was working for Czerka, and Zora's father is meant to be in some kind of hunting group._"

"No problem. I was planning on going to Tatooine next anyway." Kayle said. With that, he ended the transmission.

"Come on, the sooner we deal with these poachers, the sooner we find the Star Map." He said, turning to Juhani and I. We continued through the forest, and the path slowly began to clear, becoming more visible.

Then we found the poacher's camp. The boundaries were four tall stands that we guessed were the sonic emitters Jolee had mentioned.

Juhani suddenly smiled. "You two keep them distracted. A thought just occurred to me." She said. Then she became almost invisible as she enlisted the camouflage abilities her people possessed.

She crept along the outskirts of the camp as Kayle and I walked up to the captain.

"Oh, and what are you doing here?" The Captain asked. The he spotted our lightsabers. "Don't tell me; that old coot asked you to come and deal with us, didn't he?"

"No, Chuundar actually sent us down here to deal with some crazed wookie." Kayle said. I suppressed a chuckle at his joke. Then he continued. "We were actually sent to you by an old man name Jolee Bindo."

"Oh, you think you're very funny." The captain sneered. "We'll see how many jokes you come up with while you rot in a Czerka prison. You Jedi have no power here, and I could have you arrested for wasting my-!"

"Sir, the emitters, they're-…" One of the soldiers was suddenly mauled by a bull katarn.

"What the-…" The captain saw many other beasts rush towards them, mouths wide open. The remaining Czerka soldiers took off in the direction of the elevator basket, the captain in the lead.

We were about to return to Jolee when the ground suddenly shook, and out of the shadows stomped a gigantic monster I'd only ever seen in an encyclopedia: a Tarentatek!

The three of us ignited our lightsabers: orange, green, blue and red blades bursting from the hilts as the Tarentatek sped toward us. Then there was a fifth snap hiss and Jolee was by our side, his emerald green saber ignited.

"I saw those Czerka soldiers running toward the lift. Thought I'd come see what happened." He said. Then the battle began.

Jolee swung his lightsaber at the Tarentateks arm, but it simply took hold of the blade without seeming to notice that its skin was blistering and burning on its fingers and claw like hand.

Juhani bent her knees and then Force-jumped up into the air, landing on the Tarentateks back. She dug her knees into the side of its ribs, and began trying to cut at its back with her two lightsabers.

However, the hide on its back was tougher, then on its hands.

With Jolee using the Force to hold himself on the ground so the Tarentatek couldn't move its hand, there must've been some kind of wax substance in its skin that had melted and sealed the hand in a grip around the lightsaber, and Juhani attempted to attack it from above, that left Kayle and I as targets for its other clawed hand.

The Tarentatek suddenly let out a roar of fury as Juhani drove her red lightsaber into its back; but the only thing it seemed to do was make the creature angrier, because it threw Juhani off its back, and through the air to collide with a tree and fall, unconscious, to the ground.

And then, with a heavy pull, it ripped Jolee's lightsaber from his grip. The blade deactivated immediately, though the Tarentatek was still left with only one hand; the one that had held the lightsaber appeared to have deformed quite a bit under the sabers heat.

Jolee Force-jumped up into the air, did a flip and landed with his lightsaber back in his hand and ignited.

We formed a triangle around the Tarentatek, dividing its concentration, and then all three of us attacked in unison. I raised and swung my orange lightsaber at the monsters' shoulder, and its only good arm fell to the forest floor, before shriveling up into nothing.

Jolee's emerald-green lightsaber went up and through the monsters' chest, just as Kayle drove his green lightsaber through the back of the Tarentateks chin, and the blade burst through the top of its head.

With a shriek, the Tarentatek fell, and shriveled up before our eyes just as its arm did.

"Phew, what is that smell?" Kayle said, waving his hand in front of his nose.

"It smells worse then Bantha poodoo." I said. Then I saw the glint of iron among the gas of what had been the Tarentateks shriveled body.

"What's that?" I said, pointing to the gleam. I used the force tp pull it out of the grass and into my hand. "It's some kind of vibrosword blade, I think."

"A vibrosword hilt…!" I handed it to Jolee and he examined it. "I don't believe it. This-this is the hilt of Bacca's Sword!"

"…Bacca's Sword?" Kayle and I asked in unison.

"It's a legend, or, I thought it was just a legend." Jolee said. "You see, according to Wookie history, Kashyyyk was not always there home, and that they came from across the galaxy to settle on this world. And they were led by a mighty chieftain named Chewbacca, or Bacca for short.

"When his tribe, and the other tribes of there former Homeworld, crashed onto Kashyyyk, it is said that he forged a mighty vibrosword from the remains of their ship.

"Bacca's Sword was passed down to each Chieftain of the Rwookrrorro tribe. Each Chieftain used the Sword with strength and with wisdom, until about a century ago. The last chieftain before Zaabar's father was, by all means, very powerful and extremely strong.

"But was also very foolish; he felt his strength made him strong enough to defeat the Shadow Beast, the Tarentatek, an creature that only Bacca had fought with and survived, though even he couldn't kill it.

"This chieftain escaped the battle with his pride wounded and his sword broken. Since then, Bacca's sword has been two separate pieces: Bacca's Hilt and Bacca's Blade. And the Blade has been lost since the Chieftain lost his battle with the Tarentatek."

"Until now..." I said.

"Exactly…" Jolee said. "And this may be exactly what we need to stop Chuundar's reign of terror."

Kayle stared skeptically at Jolee. "A broken sword blade?"

"Only a true Chieftain can hold both the blade and the hilt as one. Chuundar knows this as well as Freyyr and I, and will probably be reluctant to have the two pieces reunited. Or, at least, he used to." Jolee sniggered. "He's trying to put an end to the old traditions, and I'm guessing that he has forgotten a lot of it.

"So all we have to do is make sure that the blade and hilt reunite while he is holding one of them." I said.

"Yes, it will prove Chuundar isn't worthy of being Chieftain, and that his father is." Jolee said. "So, as soon as we've gotten your Star Map, I'll take you to Freyyr. Then we can discuss what to do next.

"Wait." Kayle said as we started to return to the path. He turned and ran back over to where the Tarentatek had fallen, and I remembered; Juhani had fallen by the tree, during her attempt to distract the Tarentatek.

Jolee and I both ran after Kayle. By the time we reached him, he'd lifted Juhani into his arms and was already on his way back to us; actually, he was on his way back to Jolee's hut.

As soon as we got back to the hut, Jolee checked to make sure she was okay.

"Well, she's unconscious, but aside from that she's okay. I'd say she'll be out of it for another couple of hours." He concluded.

"Well just in case she wakes up earlier, we should leave her a holovid so that she knows where we are." Kayle said. Jolee nodded, and we set to work to get the holorecorder working.

About half an hour later, we were trekking down the forest path toward the forcefield Jolee had mentioned. We found it easy enough, and Jolee bypassed it easy enough with the key he'd stolen from the Czerka camp.

As soon as we passed through the framework of the forcefield, it started up again. This was okay, as it would stop any of the more dangerous beasts from crossing up into the less dangerous Shadowlands.

"Hey, what's that?" Kayle said, pointing forward. I followed his gaze, and noticed the glint of steel-against-steel, like one would see in a sword fight. We started running, and saw that there was a severely wounded wookie battling against three heavily armed Mandalorians.

Without thinking, I ignited my lightsaber. Jolee and Kayle followed suit, and the three of us rushed toward the Mandalorians. Kayle leapt to the aid of the wookie while Jolee and I took care of the other two Mandalorians.

The Mandalorians were both strong and skilled with swords, but there was one small problem with their swords: the cotorsis that was weaved into most swords had worn away from too many battles, and our lightsabers easily cut through the steel blades, before killing the Mandalorians quickly and easily.

"_Oh Bacca, let this offworlder be unlike the others._" The wookie growled.

"Who are you? What happened here?" Kayle asked, already reaching to his belt for a medpack. While he and Jolee treated the wookie's wounds, he explained his ordeal to them.

I looked around us and saw that forest floor around the wookie was covered in wookie corpses.

"_I am Kiyarr._ _They came out of no where, blending in with the bushes until we were unarmed._" Said the wookie. "_They fought like predators, but they attacked like cowards! They slew my kin as we slept, and they only revealed themselves when we had disarmed. I only just managed to reach my sword before they were on top of me._"

"Is there anything we can do?" I asked.

"_My kinsman must be put to rest, but I am too weak to enact the Ritual of Farewell._" Kiyarr said. "_Not only that, they are guarded by those who have slain them; they are prisoners even after they are dead._"

Kayle nodded. "Very well, I shall see to this immediately." Kayle said.

I would have preferred remaining focused on the mission. The first mission was finding the Star Maps. But I realized that there was no turning Kayle off the idea of helping overthrow Chuundar so that Freyyr could rule again. So the more wookiee' that actually liked us, the better.

It was not hard to find the Mandalorians. Although they had stealth units on, they had left a lot of evidence as to where they were: the wookiee corpses.

And, according to Kiyarr, the Mandalorian's had attacked when he and his kinsman had been unarmed. So we all attached our lightsabers to our belts as we stepped toward the pile of corpses. We'd barely gone three steps before three Mandalorians appeared, seemingly out of thin air, all their blasters trained on us.

Kayle smiled, despite being surrounded and having a blaster pointing at his head. A second later, he held his hand out toward a fallen log, and thrust his hand toward the Mandalorian nearest the log.

The log lifted off the ground as Kayle gestured at it, and then flew through the air to collide with the Mandalorian, Kayle had thrust his hand at. All this happened in about five or six seconds.

In those some few seconds, Jolee and I had used our own methods. I used the Force to trap the Mandalorian nearest me in stasis, whilst Jolee trapped his in what seemed to be a mini whirlwind of Force energy.

Then we both leapt upon our paralyzed opponents, cutting them down with our lightsabers.

We'd barely finished killing those three Mandalorians when we were attacked by another three. The end result was the same, it just took slightly longer. And even longer on the Mandalorians' third attempt to kill us.

Finally, they stopped, and we were able to return to Kiyarr to tell him.

"_I thank you, offworlder. Ah, if only Freyyr was still Chieftain. The Mandalorians would never have gotten a foothold like this if he was._"

Jolee raised an eyebrow. "You are one loyal to Freyyr?"

"_My Kinsman and I are and will always be, Freyyr's most loyal followers. We came down here searching for him…sadly; the Mandalorian's found us before we could find him._"

Kiyarr appeared to sigh, or at least, I'm pretty sure it was a sigh. "_I cannot find him on my own, and without him there is no way to stop Chuundar._"

"Oh, I think there may still be a way…" Kayle trailed off, then he detached a scabbard from his belt and tipped it upside down. Bacca's Blade slid down into his hand.

Kiyarr's eyes widened in awe and shock; "_You…you carry the blade of Bacca?_" Kayle handed the blade over to the awe-struck wookie, who turned the blade over in his hand, examining it. "_It is as sharp now as the day it was forged…the symbols carved still perfect…it is indeed Bacca's Blade._

"_But without a Chieftain to hold it, it is still useless. Chuundar will never allow the blade and hilt to rejoin; it would at once prove he is not a true Chieftain._"

"We've got that covered as well." Jolee said. "I know where Freyyr is hiding. If you could gather any who are still loyal to Freyyr while we find him, it may help us greatly in the confrontation against Chuundar."

Kiyarr nodded. "_I will do this thing. I shall see you in Rwookrrorro Village, where we shall take back Freyyr's reign as Chieftain._" That said, the injured wookie ran back up the path, and with amazing power, bent his knees and propelled himself off the ground, just high enough to take hold of the top of the forcefield, and pull himself up and over.

With that done, we continued our journey deeper into the Shadowlands…

Authors Note: Oks, this chapter is ended rather abruptly, I'm having trouble with ideas and how to do this reasonable different from the game. Suggestions would be nice, and I'd also like to hear _your _guess on who Revan is disguised as.


	10. Chapter 9: Chuundar’s Demise

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: Nothing to report.

Chapter 9: Chuundar's Demise

"_Neural patterns scanned…match found._" The hologram stated.

"Match found-What!" Jolee grumbled. "It always muttered something about rejected patterns for me."

Perhaps I should explain a few things. Between we three Jedi, we managed to move the many wookie corpses to a place of ritual, and Jolee, having studied the wookies and their rituals, knew how to enact the Ritual of Farewell. Silently, he picked up a fallen tree branch and ignited his lightsaber.

He touched the end of the stick to the blade of his saber, and the end of the stick caught fire. Not normal orange-red flames, but strange turquoise-green flames.

Jolee then stepped toward the pile of wookie corpses. When he was close enough, he dropped the burning stick onto the pile, which, strangely, instantly burst into flames, the same colour as the flames that had burnt on the stick.

Kayle and I watched solemnly as Jolee did this. When he turned away from the burning corpses, I spoke.

"What…what is the ritual about?"

"As the legend goes, wookies who are not properly farewelled are condemned to wander the Shadowlands for all eternity. I believe the light of the fire is seen as some kind of beacon to light their path into the 'Light Beyond' as the wookies call it." Jolee had explained.

When the ritual was completed, we decided to go in search of the Star Map before seeking out Freyyr. Jolee led us to where he had found it, and that's how we'd gotten to where we were now.

"We are seeking the Star Map." Kayle said. "And I believe you have it."

"_Accessing databanks…confirmation, there is a Star Map…Apology: Access is restricted._"

"Restricted?" Kayle repeated slowly. "Okay…what-do-I-have-to-do-to-access-it?" He asked, taking deep breaths. I was a little disturbed how easily the holographic generation had frustrated him.

I was beginning to see more and more of Malak in him as each day passed.

"_Answer restricted…computer malfunction…bad data encountered…_" The image shimmered and stretched, then returned to normal.

"This unit will now enable automatic termination." The image faded, and out of the shadows, two battle droids suddenly crept toward us, two shimmering bubbles around them.

Kayle and I ignited our lightsabers and rushed at one while Jolee held back, first using the Force to jam the second droid's circuits and temporarily disabling it, then using the Force again to add to Kayle's and my own power, and somehow deflecting the droids blaster fire back at it.

This left us free to use our lightsabers for offensive purposes. Kayle leapt at the droid in front of us and drove his saber through its shield and then its insectoid body, while I sliced the disabled droid neatly in half while its shield was down.

Seconds later, the holographic figure reappeared above the computer. "_Primary match found, corrupted data replaced, Star Map accessed._"

It said, and then vanished once again. Next to it, the tripod rose out of some kind of mechanical hole, and separated to reveal the sphere of blue, gold and green lights, which Kayle quickly scanned into his datapad.

"Well, now that that's done, I believe I still owe you the location of one former Wookie Chieftain." Jolee said.

Kayle nodded, and Jolee led us to a small clearing, at the back of which was a tall tree. Jolee led us around the back of the large tree, where, sitting in a hollow carved into the tree, we found a feral-looking, light-brown furred wookie.

"…Freyyr? You still alive…?"

"_The hairless one has returned?_ Freyyr growled. Jolee chuckled.

"Yes, and with him he brings something to help stop Chuundar. Kayle, if you would be so kind."

Kayle obliged, and once again took up the sword scabbard, tipped it upside down and let Bacca's blade slide down into his hand.

"_Is it possible?_" Freyyr growled, moving toward Kayle faster then one would think possible. "_Bacca's Blade has been recovered? And by an off-worlder?_"

"Indeed it is, Freyyr. We have brought it to you to use in the fight against Chuundar." Jolee said. Kayle held out the blade to Freyyr, who, hesitantly, lifted it out of his hands.

"_I thank you offworlder._" Freyyr said somberly. "_I shall return to my village immediately. Chuundar has been left unchallenged for far too long. Make haste, Joow-lea, for your blade may be needed in this battle._"

With that, Freyyr turned to the tree he had hidden in for so long, and sprung upward, reaching forward and digging his claws into the bark, and pulling himself up, towards the great walkway.

We did make haste, back up through the Shadowlands, passing through the Czerka forcefield, and then back to Jolee's hut.

To our shock and horror, it was empty. Kayle turned and ran back outside, only to almost become impaled on a vibrosword held by Gorwooken.

"_Our spies tell us that you not only let the mad-claw live, you gave him a weapon. You have betrayed Chuundar and will now suffer for-!_" The dark-furred wookie never finished his sentence.

Seconds before he had planned on driving his sword through Kayle's chest, the end of a green lightsaber had pushed through his own. He fell forward, and behind him stood a triumphant looking Zora. Behind her, Kayle could see Seth and Juhani turning three wookie thugs into Katarn food.

Zora spoke first. "As soon as Juhani woke and found your message, she figured you'd need some help. She came back up to the Ebon Hawk with a…new friend."

I looked past her and saw that it wasn't just Juhani and Seth fighting. There was also a wookie fighting alongside them.

"Kiyarr?" I questioned.

Zora nodded. "Apparently, she ran into him on her way back up to the Ebon Hawk. She used the Force to finish healing his wounds, and then the two of them came to get us."

Within moments, the wookie thugs were dead, and the Cathar, wookie and human walked over to us, a little tired out by the battle, but none-the-less in complete health.

"_Hurry, we must get to the Chieftain's Hall, Freyyr is already waiting for us._" Kiyarr said.

"_So, even after five long years in the Shadowlands, my father, the mighty Freyyr, still lives?_" Chuundar taunted.

"_Yes, and I have returned to take back my throne, and I carry with me the Blade of Bacca._"

"_So what, I carry the Hilt. Not that either have any significance anymore._" Chuundar roared. "_The old traditions are all but dead. And the last of them will die with you._"

Chuundar took up the sword that sat beside him, and charged at Freyyr.

Zora, Juhani and I all ignited our lightsabers and propelled ourselves forward. Unbelievably, the sword Chuundar held passed straight through our blades as we tried to block his onslaught.

Zaalbar let loose a roar that could have made a rancor retreat, and Chuundar stopped in his tracks, his sword just inches from his father.

"_Enough! There will be no more fighting!_" Zaalbar roared. Then I suddenly noticed something.

"Chuundar holds the Sword of Bacca!" I exclaimed.

The room suddenly went very quiet as the wookies realized that there so called Chieftain did indeed hold the Sword of Bacca, and yet it remained as normal as any sword, except for the runes on the blade and the fact it had passed through the lightsaber blades completely unharmed.

This told the wookies one thing: for all Chuundar may have been, he was not the true Chieftain.

"_It matters not; I still have the Czerka as allies._" Chuundar growled. "_Attack!_"

Zaalbar rushed toward his brother and delivered a quick punch to his upper arm, disarming him.

As the Sword of Bacca fell, Zaalbar reached for it. The moment his fingers touched the hilt, it seemed to will itself into his hand, and the blade instantly began to glow a brilliant turquoise-green; the same colour as the fire that burned in the Lower Shadowlands.

But even with Bacca's blade in the hands of a worthy chieftain, the wookies were severely out-numbered and out-gunned.

"…Bastila!" Kayle shouted while killing a man with a single swipe of his lightsaber by slicing through the unfortunate man's neck.

"If ever there was a time we needed you to help in that special way you do, it was now."

I understood, and Juhani and Zora moved to positions themselves in front and behind me, so that no one could disturb me while I used my Battle Meditation to turn the tide of the battle, inspiring the wookies to keep on fighting for their Chieftain and for what was right, and at the same time I planted thoughts of over-confidence, and underestimation in the thoughts of Czerka.

While enacting my Battle Meditation I was only semi-aware of what was happening around me, and I estimated it took about five minutes to turn the tides.

The battle finally ended with the death of Chuundar; Zaalbar roared in a mixture of sadness and determination as he stabbed a vibrosword, one that glowed with a vibrant green fire, through his brother's chest.

For a few moments, all was silent. Then Freyyr spoke, "_It saddens me that this day ended the way it did…for all his faults, Chuundar was still my son._" He cried out a wookie call of mourning. The remaining wookies, Kiyarr and Zaalbar included, joined in, cause quite a racket.

It lasted but a few moments, but it seemed to go on for a lifetime. When it did finally end, Freyyr turned to his youngest son. "_Though I have lost one son today, another has returned to me. Zaalbar, I prey that you can forgive me for not believing you when you warned me of Chuundar's treachery._"

"_If you had asked me a month ago, I would have needed time to consider it._" Zaalbar said. "_But I have learned much during my travel with Kayle Starfire, and I know that forgiveness is best. You followed the old traditions…ironic that the very thing that the very thing the saved Chuundar from exposure was what he was attempting to end._"

Freyyr nodded. "_Your words hold much wisdom, son. I do not know if you realize this Zaalbar, but with Chuundar dead, you are next in line to become Chieftain of the Rwookrrorro. You once again have a place in your home, if you wish it._"

For a minute, it looked like Zaalbar might accept the offer; but then he shook his head slowly. "While this has lifted a great weight of my mind, I do not think I am yet ready to live here again. I have only just recently returned to freedom, and, for now at least, I wish to remain free.

"But that does not mean I do not wish to be part of this Rwookrrorro once again. One day I will return…and I hope to be welcomed once more."

"_I understand you my son._" Freyyr said. "_You will always be welcome on this world. As will you, Kayle Starfire, as payment for this great thing you have done for me._

"_But now I wonder what it is I can give you, Zaalbar, to thank you for helping and forgiving me, even after the pain I caused you._"

"_Father, I knew that you would wish to offer me something in gratitude. And I have thought long and hard about this; I wish t hold Bacca's Blade as I travel._"

Freyyr looked like he was going to say no, but there was a sudden voice from beside Zaalbar that cut him off.

"Before you say no, you might want to take a closer look at the sword in his hand." Everyone turned to see the space beside Zaalbar shimmer, and then Mission became visible. Then all eyes darted toward the bloodied blade with which Zaalbar had killed Chuundar.

Though the sword no longer seemed to burn with the vibrant green fire, it could now be seen that there were runes carved into the hilt of the sword, identifying it as the Sword of the mighty Chewbacca.

"Mission, you were the one who replaced Chuundar's sword with Bacca's, weren't you?" Kayle suddenly realized.

"Guilty." Mission said, smiling. "I was with Big Z the whole time, even though Carth said it was too dangerous for me to leave the ship!

"Zaalbar told me that if Chuundar were to hold it, it would be unlikely it would react to him. Then I slipped it into Zaalbar's hand when no one was looking…I don't know how, but I knew that he was meant to hold it."

Freyyr first looked shocked, then a look of realization crossed his face. "_Yes, I see it now. Zaalbar, though you may not want it, you are the true Chieftain of Rwookrrorro. If you wish, I will rule in your stead until you return, but when you do you will take your rightful place as our leader._"

Zaalbar bowed his head. "_I thank you father. And I will return one day, with Bacca's Sword in hand._"

Although our business with the wookies was over, as we left the village, we found ourselves in the middle of a battle between Czerka and the wookies at least three times. But with the wookies, Mission, Seth, Zora, Juhani, Zaalbar, Kayle, Jolee and I, no Czerka soldier could stand up against us.

When we got to the Ebon Hawk, Kayle went in search of Erik, who had gone after Eli, the man who had cheated his way into getting a willing slave.

Erik led Kayle, Juhani and I to the Cargo Hold. Canderous was standing guard outside, though as he was leaving, he kept mumbling something about not needing to stand guard.

We walked in and found Eli lying on the floor, seemingly unconscious. At least, that was the assumption until we got closer, at which point we realized he was dead.

"Except there's no physical reason for him to be dead." Jolee repeated for the third time, ten minutes later. "Aside from the dart wound from when Erik tranquilized him, he's completely fine."

Juhani, however, wasn't listening to Jolee. The Cathar was examining the tiny mark where the tranquilizer dart had penetrated Eli's skin.

"Perhaps he had more doses then we first thought." She purred. Kayle and I both walked over to her, to see what she was talking about. "Take a close look at the mark."

After finding a magnifying glass, we discovered that Eli had been injected at least four times more then the original dosage, and no human could wake up from that much.

"Who would kill him? And why?" I whispered. "I mean, sure, he wasn't a nice guy, but no one could've gotten on the ship to kill him."

"Could Revan have done it?" Kayle suggested, revealing that he, too, believed Revan may have infiltrated the Ebon Hawk's crew, and that he could be posing as anyone of the crew members, even Carth.

"I suppose it's possible." I whispered. "But why kill Eli? What did he do?"

"We'll ask if we ever find who he's disguised himself as." Kayle said. "For now, I'll go tell Carth to start the engines up, let's get off this planet."

As the Ebon Hawk prepared for takeoff, and everyone headed for bed, my thoughts finally came to what I'd been avoiding for most of our stay on Kashyyyk: what I was going to do about my mother.

And to tell the truth, I had no idea. All I knew was that I was dreading the inevitable meeting with the mother I'd not seen or heard from in eighteen years.


	11. Chapter 10: A Hint From The Past

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: Nothing to report.

Chapter 10: A Hint From The Past

_…Darkness fell around me as I entered the cave…shadows crept along the walls…and a great beast stood between us and our target…and yet I saw, at the very back of the cave, the tripod separating like a giant mechanical flower…_

Even a day after the vision we still wondered what it all meant. Obviously the Star Map had to be in a cave, or else the many sandstorms would have eroded it, but past that we had no idea what the vision was trying to tell us.

Carth was just bringing us in to land in the Anchorhead Landing Bay, and, unfortunately for Kayle, I was beginning to feel irritable as we got closer to where my mother was staying.

"…and then maybe we can take a look at the Swoop track. Bastila, are you even listening to me?" I looked up at Kayle.

"Yes, I'm listening. You said…you said…" I wracked my brains for memory of the past few minutes, and found a mass of blank thoughts. "Okay, so I wasn't listening. What did you say?"

"Don't worry about it." Kayle said. "Why don't you go get some rest? We'll be leaving at noon, when the suns are lower; until, it might be best if we all rest up."

Nodding slowly, I turned and walked out of the cockpit, leaving Carth and Kayle to finish landing the Ebon Hawk.

I slept better in those few hours then I had in the week it took to get to Tatooine. No dreams, no visions, just peaceful sleep.

I woke up slowly, keeping my eyes closed for a while. When I first woke, I thought I heard a squelching, and a strange cooing sound. I thought maybe I'd been having a dream I didn't remember, and that the cooing may have been residue of the dream.

But it continued, and when I opened my eyes, I was looking right into the innocent, black eyes of the mass-productive amphibian known as the Gizka...

I screamed despite the fact that I was not afraid of a Gizka. I merely screamed because it was barely an inch from my face and staring directly into my eyes.

Kayle, Juhani and Carth all came running, and Kayle laughed when he saw what had caused me to scream.

"I guess one of them got away." He said, sneaking up on the Gizka and scooping the small critter up in his arms. It cooed excitedly, and then slid out of his grip like a bar of soap.

"What is a Gizka doing on this ship?" I demanded.

"You mean, what are about a dozen Gizka doing on this ship?" Kayle suddenly stopped as Mission ran in. "Some idiot dropped a crate of them on the wrong-!"

"We just found three more nests. Each with at least ten eggs." She said.

Kayle suddenly rushed at the Gizka, perhaps thinking to catch it off guard. He failed, and after another three failed attempts at catching it, he and Mission began to chase the Gizka around the room, slamming into each other more often then showing any sign of catching it.

By the time the Gizka collapsed with exhaustion, we were all exhausted with laughter after the many tricks Kayle tried and failed to use to capture the small amphibian.

With the Gizka no longer moving, Mission picked it up and carried it out of the dormitory, followed by Juhani. I shooed Kayle and Carth out so I could get changed into my robes, and then followed them out into the Central Room of the Ebon Hawk, where most of the crew had gathered.

"So, we're searching for some kind of map on this pit of a world?" Canderous asked.

Kayle nodded. "Yep. From what we could tell from our vision, it's in some kind of cave. And there was _something_ in that cave."

"Something?" Juhani asked. "I have read about Tatooine. It is one of the places my people fled to after our Homeworld was attacked. It is likely the something you felt in the cave was actually a Krayt Dragon, a giant lizard, or at least a giant reptile of some sort. They often hibernate in large caves for six or seven months of the year. It's quite possible it was attracted to the Dark Power of the Star Map. We have already guessed that the Star Maps manipulate the environment around them, as the one on Kashyyyk did."

"If that's so then we're going to have to find a way to get passed it." I said.

"Don't forget, we've also got three family members to find," Zora put in. "Missions brother, my father, and Bastila's mother." A wave of anger washed over me, only for a second, and I hoped none of my fellow Jedi, and especially not Kayle, felt it. I had come oh so close to forgetting I had to meet with my mother, and then Zora had reminded, not only me, but the entire crew.

"Okay, we'll split into groups again." Kayle said, eying me suspiciously. He must've felt my second of anger. But then his gaze returned to the rest of the crew. "Mission, Zaalbar and Jolee, you three head to the Czerka Office, find out if they've seen Griff. And while you're there, get some hunting license's; we'll need them to leave if this place hasn't changed since I was last here."

"When did you come here last?" I asked, worried more memories were breaking through.

"Just before the Mandalorian Wars." Kayle answered, turning his head to look at me again. "My crew and I had to stop here to pick up supplies on our way to Taris; at that time it was the rendezvous point for anyone who was joining the fight. Back then you needed a Czerka Hunting License to leave Anchorhead.

"Now, while Mission, Zaalbar and Jolee are checking out the Czerka Offices, Carth, Zora and Juhani can check out the Swoop Tracks and also ask around for Zora's father. Erik; you, Seth and Canderous go take a look at the Hunting Lodge, find out what's been happening out in the Desert. Bastila, you come with me. We'll check out the Cantina, see if we can find out where your mother is staying."

There was a loud bleeping sound behind Mission, and T3-M4 push passed her, shrieking in loud beeps and other strange electronic noises.

"Wish I understood droid." Mission said. Kayle laughed.

"I think our T3 Unit is a little disturbed that he's being left behind." Kayle said. "Or maybe he's just disturbed." That got a laugh out of everyone.

And so we left, T3-M4 coming with Kayle and I, and chirping happily in some warped version of the droid language. Despite my suggestion that we sell the droid, or at the very least have it's memory erased, Kayle seemed happy with the droids borderline-insanity.

It turned out to be useful, however, when we were ambushed by two Dark Jedi. Despite his minute size, the droid took on one of the Dark Jedi head-to-head (er…dome), and electrocuted him to death with a built in shock arm.

Kayle easily overpowered the second Dark Jedi with a series of powerful attacks of his green bladed saber against the red blade of the Dark Jedi's lightsaber, which unbalanced her grip on it, at which point Kayle sliced her hand from her arm, and with split-second timing caught her falling lightsaber and drove it through her chest.

My mind was suddenly flooded with images of the very same women, not in the robes of a Dark Jedi, but in undergarments, and she was climbing into bed with – Malak! But not the Malak who'd been captured by the Jedi; a younger Malak, not as handsome as he had been before joining the Mandalorian War, but still with his jaw and still looking semi-normal.

It ended as suddenly as it had begun, and I saw Kayle on his hands and knees one moment, tears in his eyes. The next, he was on his feet, his eyes dry, no sign at all that what I had just seen had not been my imagination, except that I knew he too had seen those images.

Was it possible that Malak had been in love at some point? Or had she simply been someone who'd slept with him because he was in charge of half the Republic fleet?

Either way, Kayle suddenly seemed reluctant to dispose of the lightsaber he'd used to kill the Dark Jedi, though when he saw me staring at him, he quickly hooked the lightsaber onto his belt, hidden beneath his tunic.

And then we continued down the sandy street of Anchorhead, heading in the direction of the Cantina, where we'd hopefully find out where I would most likely find out where my mother was staying.


	12. Chapter 11: Carth's Infatuation

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: No longer writing from Bastila's point of view.

Chapter 11: Carth's Infatuation

Carth half-sat half-fell back into his seat as Zora's swoop bike spiraled over the finish line. The young Jedi had a streak of recklessness he'd not expected, and had won the last two races (not including the one she'd just finished). Carth had found it a little disturbing how easily she had manipulated the Hutt with the Force, making him pay her more for winning each race, so instead of getting ten Racing-bonds for the first, she'd gotten thirty, and eighty of the second, and she was going to get one-hundred and ninety for this one, and each Bond was worth sixty credits, give or take a few, which totaled to roughly eighteen-thousand credits altogether.

Zora walked into Swoop Registration Building, receiving cheers, whistles, and one marriage proposal from a rather drunk hunter, who was escorted outside by two Czerka soldiers. Zora gave Carth a smile, a looked around for a moment to find Juhani discussing something with a young Twi'lek man.

"What's happening over there?" Zora asked, walking over to stand next to Carth while Juhani walked over to the slimy Hutt at the back of the room.

"Motta wanted us to talk Nico, the Twi'lek, into signing on with him. The only trouble is, Motta wants a hefty part of Nico's winnings, so Juhani's taken it upon herself to rid Tatooine of unfair managers." Carth and Zora both chuckled and that, then Carth continued. "She's been walking between Nico and Motta since you started racing, bargaining with them to try and get a fair deal."

At that moment, Juhani came back over to them. "Okay, I have finally gotten Nico a fair deal." She said, smiling. "And I got that good-for-nothing slug to cough up some extra racing-bonds for you. There's ten or fifteen more in there for you."

The Cathar Jedi handed Zora the many small chips that the Hutt had called 'racing-bonds', and then turned back to see Nico arguing with Motta the Hutt about something else. "You know, no matter how often you try to help someone, they always seem to find another problem." She said sadly.

Zora nodded. "That's what being a sentient is all about, never getting what you want."

"Oh come on," Carth said as they exited the Swoop Registration. "We're not _all_ that bad, are we?"

"Well, some of you are pretty good." Zora said, her eyes flickering in Carths direction for a minute, and then returning to the direction ahead of them when Juhani looked over at her.

"So, did you find anything about your father?" She asked.

Zora sighed, then she smiled. "Yep, one of the swoop jockeys said to look over at the hunting lodge if he was a hunter – I don't know why Kayle didn't just send us there first!"

Carth nodded. "Come on, the sooner we get there, the sooner we find your father."

"Come on, the sooner we find this cave, the sooner I can leave my mother behind." Bastila said, apparently frustrated.

"You know, you could've been a little nicer." Kayle suggested, and then winced as she turned her acidic gaze upon him.

"Can you believe that she had the nerve to tell us to find his Holocron, even though she didn't even lift a finger to try and tell me he'd died?" The young Jedi Kayle had once known as Bastila seemed to have been replaced by an angry child with an attitude, which he told to Bastila, which got him hit around the face.

"I didn't know girls could hit so hard." Kayle said, and caught Bastila's wrist as she tried to hit him again. "Did you really have to tell her you felt like an orphan?"

"Well, it's true. My father's dead, and he was the only real family I had." Bastila snapped, trying to pull her wrist out of his grip. "That woman was a complete stranger to me during my childhood, and she _gave_ me to the Jedi, I wouldn't be surprised if she'd been the one who brought them to us!"

"Well, here's some advice, one orphan to another," Kayle said as he struggled to keep hold of her wrist. "Don't give up on family so easily, because one day you may wake up, and find yourself alone." Kayle said. Bastilas' gaze turned from acidic to icy, but she didn't say anything. Kayle had come to interpret silence as a vague acceptance of his words, and learned not to push if she didn't shove. He released his grip and she walked up ahead of them, in the general direction of the gates that stood between them and leaving Anchorhead.

After a heated discussion with the gate guard, the two Jedi and the Astromech droid turned around and headed back in the direction of the Ebon Hawk. Aside from Kayle learning where Bastilas' temper and stubbornness came from, they hadn't succeeded much in their mission. As they passed the Czerka office, they ran into Mission; literally, Kayle ran right into her and the two of them fell down onto the dusty street.

"Next time look before you- Oh, Kayle." Mission realized who'd run into her. "Sorry, I thought you were that Duros again, he had a real bad temper."

"So, did you get the hunting licenses?" Kayle asked.

"Yep, we just need the gate guard to register them, and then scan them, and we'll be free to come and go as we please." Mission said. "How'd you guys go?"

"Don't ask." Kayle said. He picked himself up off the ground and then helping Mission get up. "Let's just get back to the Ebon Hawk; maybe Zora and Carth and Juhani have had some luck. Oh, and did you find out where Griff is?"

Mission didn't say anything, so Kayle didn't push the matter – she'd tell him in her own time. He just hoped that wouldn't be too long.

They decided to wait a day or so to learn what they could about the dune sea, and the Sand People that inhabited it. That night, after dinner, Zora cornered Carth on his way to the refresher.

"You've been acting distant today, Carth." She said. "Is something wrong?" Carth shook his head quickly.

"Oh... it's nothing. Sorry." He said, trying to duck under Zora's arm. He failed, and she pulled him back up to look her in the eyes.

"Out with it, Carth. I won't have you moping." She said flatly, giving him a serious look.

"Moping? I'm not moping!" Carth snapped. Zora tilted her head to one side, and Carth bowed his head. "I... okay, fine, maybe I'm moping a little, but you're very pushy, you know that?"

"Yeah, it's one of the few things I inherited from my father." Zora said, smiling a little too innocently.

Carth didn't say anything for a minute. Then with a deep breath, he told her, "I told you earlier, that my wife died four years ago. I... I've just been trying to remember what she looked like." He said. "It shouldn't be so difficult. I can remember things about her... things she did. The way she smiled, what her hair smelled like, our last fight... just not her face.

"I try to hold it in my head but it's gone. Is... that strange? Maybe I shouldn't be talking to you about this."

"I'll admit, it is strange to discuss her." Zora said.

Carth sighed, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned it, even if you asked. I just find you, I don't know... easy to talk to." Zora smiled at this comment. Carth continued. "I, uh... it must look really strange for me to be obsessing like this, still. You must think I'm incredibly stupid."

Zora shook her head. "No, but I doubt your wife would want you to do this to yourself."

"I... suppose you're probably right. But I have to do it, anyway." Carth insisted. "The only thing that's kept me going since she died has been the need to find Saul and kill him. It's better to think about that than... anything else. If I can do that, then maybe I can let her go. Let it all go. If we encounter Saul... if we ever have the chance, promise me that I will be the one to kill him. I have to settle this... I need to."

Zora blinked a few times. "Well, I'm not really the one to request that of. Kayle's the one in charge." Carth looked away, and she added, "But if we get the opportunity, I'll do everything I can to make sure you do."

Carth gave Zora a thankful look. "Thank you. I... guess there's really nothing else to say."

Bastila was in the Living Area/Garage, studying the Kashyyyk and Dantooine maps, now that they were merged together. Even with two, there was little more then there was when there was one. She looked up as a shadow passed over her, her hand going for her lightsaber. She relaxed when she saw it was Erik. "Can I help you with something?"

"When we last talked you said you needed time to think. So?" Erik asked. Bastila sighed. She had hoped Erik had forgotten, but emotions, especially love and passion, were hard to forget, and Erik seemed to be filled with both.

"You have been patient with me, haven't you?" She said, trying to dodge the question. Erik picked up on it, and gave her a level look. She sighed again. "I suppose you deserve an answer. But you have to understand how difficult this is for me to say."

Erik nodded. "I'm a Jedi too remember."

"Then you understand why this is so hard for me." Bastila said. "With all my training, I should be able to control myself better than this. But you're not anything like I expected. You're not like any man I've ever met before. I find myself watching you when I don't mean to. I'm thinking about you when I don't want to. It isn't supposed to be like this!"

Erik recoiled slightly at her snappish manner. She mumbled an apology. Then Erik spoke, "What are you trying to say, exactly?"

"Every time I try to call on all my teachings to calm myself, they fail me." Bastila explained. "You have such power, such passion! I don't know why, but I find myself drawn to you."

"Are you interested in me or in my ability to use the Force?" Erik question. He was probing her mind, trying to find an answer. She was unsure if she wanted to block him out or let him read her – both were for the same reason.

"The Force is a part of you, as is your power." She said. "But that's not what attracted me to you. It's more than that. Maybe it's the fact we have spent a lot of time together over the past month, between that and the connection we both have with the Force, it gives us a certain... intimacy. If I could, I would return to Dantooine. I need to be away from you, away from the power you seem to hold over me; away from the power in you."

"But Revan must be stopped; my own feelings are nothing when compared to that. And I can't leave Kayle, not with the Bond that joins us." Bastila gave a long sigh. "Yet I know this could affect the sake of our mission if it is not resolved - I can't let that happen!"

"Just give in to your feelings, Bastila. I know you want to." Erik said persuasively, and Bastila was wondering if he'd used the Force in his words. She certainly felt an urge to do so, but she resisted it.

"I think... I think we should have some privacy for this. Come with me." She led him to the Starboard Dormitory. Juhani, Kayle and Mission were all doing training exercises with swords, and Zora was off somewhere with Carth, so they wouldn't be disturbed anytime soon. When they reached the Dormitory, Bastila closed and locked the door, and then turned to Erik, who had sat down on one of the beds, looking her up and down.

"Well…?" He asked after a moment. Bastila took a deep breath, and began her explanation.

"I promised you an answer earlier, and I intend to keep that promise. But I fear it is not an answer you will like." She said. "I can't deny that there are parts of you I am drawn to. Your power, your will. Despite everything that you are I…I feel compelled to be with you.

"In some ways you make me feel weak, you make me feel as if I am ensnared in a web of passion, and you are the spider. But at the same time you make me feel so much stronger; so much more alive."

"And I feel more alive when I'm with you." Erik said hopefully.

"Now I realize that it _is_ the Force, your power that I am attracted to." Bastila said, and Erik was sure he noticed a hint of sadness in her voice. "You represent everything I strive to be, you are a near legend among the Jedi, for both your fighting skills and your affinity with the Force. The Jedi Council surely realized I would find myself attracted to you; they knew my loyalty to the doctrines of our Order would be tested on this mission.

"By facing and overcoming my feelings for you I have learned a valuable lesson about control and the dangers of emotion. This is an important step in understanding the Force. I'm sorry if this is not what you wanted to hear. But I felt it was important you know our... infatuation... was nothing more than a result of our two collective Force energies being so near each other."

If she had thought Erik was going to be relieved by this, she was sorely wrong. The older man looked to the floor for a moment. When he looked back up, there was a mixture of hurt and anger in his eyes. "So I was just a stepping stone to you becoming a Master?" He asked; his voice was as sharp as a vibrosword.

"Please, don't say it like that." Bastila begged, tears welling up in her eyes. "You make it sound like I was using you! Don't you realize how difficult this was for me?"

Erik stood so fast Bastila almost didn't see it. "Difficult for you? How do you think I feel? I was willing to risk my entire life's work to be with you!"

"Why do you think I came to this decision?" Bastila snapped, tears now running freely; tears of pain, anger, grief. "I know how hard this is for both of us! You just kept pressing forward, so I had to be the one to step up and do the right thing! I will not have you risking your role as a Jedi for something that doesn't exist!"

"I don't believe it!" Erik snapped. Bastila saw the beginning of tears in his eyes now, but he held them in. "If being a Jedi means I have to give up love, give up you, I will leave the Order! The love I feel for you is not the result of two collective Force energies!"

Bastila looked him right in the eyes and she saw truth in them. "You... you mean it, don't you? But how can I be sure you aren't making a mistake. I... I have to resist. I have to be strong for both of us."

"You don't always have to be strong, Bastila. Give in just this once." Erik whispered, stepping forward and taking her slender hand in his battle hardened one. "I love you Bastila. And I know you love me."

She wasn't sure how it happened. She wasn't sure why she had given in, but Bastila suddenly found herself in a deep, passionate kiss with Erik. And then they were stripping off their outer robes as they backed toward one of the beds. Bastila sighed inwardly – she would have a lot of explaining to do in the morning.

But until then…

A/N: That's right; I'm doing both Romance Side Quests, just to make sure I don't give it away. I almost always get to the Bastila Romance by Tatooine, and I wanted them to happen at around the same time, so here they are (BTW, I'm also going to ruin the Romance for both Bastila and Carth).


	13. Chapter 12: T3's Temper

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: A one night stand with another Jedi. Or is he a Jedi? What will Bastila do about the result?

Chapter 12: T3's Temper

Bastila slowly opened her eyes. Erik was laying next to her, a half grin on his face as he stroked her hair. His cheeks coloured when he realized she was awake, but his smile broadened. "Hello." He said.

Bastila sat up, looking around. "Oh." Was all she said, and it was weak, as if she'd given up a losing fight. Then she turned to Erik, and the look she gave him told him she didn't feel the same way about their night as he did. "We... we shouldn't have done this." She whispered. "It was wrong. The Jedi aren't allowed to fall in love."

"It didn't feel wrong to me." Erik said weakly, obviously hurt by what she had said.

"It was... it was a moment of weakness. When I kissed you... we shouldn't have... no, I'm sorry." Bastila stood, and picked up her clothes, pulling her cloak around herself. "I know we both wanted it, but we shouldn't have given in to our desire. We're Jedi! We can't act like this. Not now, not while we still have to deal with Revan! I'm... I'm sorry. I don't blame you, but... it was a mistake. I have to get out of here before somebody sees us together!"

With that, the young Jedi fled the Dormitory and rushed through the Ebon Hawk to the Refresher, and came out again a few minutes later as if she'd just had a shower. After breakfast, the crew gathered in the central room, and Kayle divided everyone into groups again; Carth, Zora and Erik were together – Bastila purposefully avoided Erik's gaze – and would be asking around to see if they could find anyone who owned a translator droid that could speak Tusken (the Sand People language).

Mission, Seth, Zaalbar and Jolee would remain on the Ebon Hawk to make sure no one boarded without permission.

And Kayle, T3, Canderous and Bastila would all be using the Hunting Licenses to scout the area outside Anchorhead, so they wouldn't get lost later on during the actual mission.

Zora sighed as she the greedy Ithorian spoke, "It's a very solid machine, in good shape. I can't let it go for less than 5000 credits." He was talking about the rust-coloured, demonic-looking droid that stood in a corner. While Erik examined it, Zora and Carth were bargaining for it with Yuka Laka.

"Could I convince you to lower the price a bit?" She said in her most sweet-innocent-girl tone.

"4000, not a credit less!" Said the Ithorian. Zora muttered a Huttese curse under her breath, then smiled at Yuka Laka. It wasn't that she couldn't afford 4000 credits, it was the fact that she despised the Ithorian enough to not want to pay him that much, especially if the droid was as 'uncooperative' as he had described it.

"Perhaps you should lower the price a little more." She said persuasively, backing her words up with the Force. The Ithorians' eyes glazed over for a moment.

"Perhaps I should lower the price a little more." He said, mimicking her almost word for word. "2500, no less."

"2500 then. I can pay that." She handed the credit chips to the Ithorian, being sure to wipe her hand after he touched her, and then went over to the HK-47 and had his restraining bolt removed.

"This droid is quite a fascinating model." Erik said. "I may take a look at its circuitry later; see if I can't find out where he really came from."

While all this was happening, Kayle, Bastila, Canderous and T3 had made it out of Anchorhead. Before leaving, they had been asked by a Jawa to rescue his tribe from the Sand People. Kayle had obliged, saying he would seek out the Sand People and be sure to find out about the tribe.

After leaving Anchorhead, they had been confronted by a woman. She had said something about an anniversary gift, and in a way that made it seem like she was planning to kill him.

"Oh, I'm through planning. I just left him a little mess that he has to take care of. If he's smart, he'll be just fine." The woman said when Kayle said this. "But he's not smart." She added flatly.

Bastila seemed intrigued by the woman, and Canderous gave a complimentary nod. Kayle was somewhat perplexed by their vague admiration of the woman, but he quickly forgot about it as he saw a group of tall robes running towards them.

"Sand people!" He shouted. He and Bastila both ignited their lightsabers – green and orange blades appearing side by side – and Canderous and T3 powered up their blasters. The woman – Marlena, she'd said her name was – pulled out a pair of short swords and the three Melee combatants split to face one Sand Person apiece while the Mandalorian and the Astromech droid rained blaster fire down them.

"That's one thing about this planet I won't miss." Marlena said as the last Sand person fell. "Don't forget, when you see, Tanis, tell him his wife says hello." With that, she went back through the gate. A moment later, Carth, Zora, Erik and an evil looking droid came through, and there was a quick discussion on what to do next. Erik, Bastila, Zora and Carth ended up going back; leaving Kayle, Zora, T3 and HK-47 to deal with whatever else they met during their current sweep of the dunes near Anchorhead.

Not far out into the dunes, Kayle heard a whiny sort of voice, "Anyone out there...?" Kayle tried to duck behind a dune before the man saw him, but he wasn't fast enough. "Could you help? I seem to be... ah... doomed."

Sighing, Kayle approached the man, and guessed that it was Tanis by the predicament he was in.

The dark skinned man was surrounded by four droids – each of them was making a strange buzzing sound and shivering as if caught in a program glitch.

"I don't remember you from Fazza's club." Tanis said, looking Kayle up and down as if sizing him up. "You new to Anchorhead? Could you maybe help me get out of here?"

"You're Tanis, right?" Kayle said. "You're wife says hello."

"I'll bet she does." Tanis said glumly. "She's decided I've finally worn out my welcome, and she's "fixed" my droids to do her dirty work."

"Commentary: One would hope the female is better at repairs than Yuka Laka." Said HK-47. "I still would like to crush his neck, master."

"Perhaps later." Zora said, as if she didn't really care.

"I triggered some sort of trap she programmed." Tanis said, his voice returning to its whiny tone. He didn't appear to notice what HK had said. "She probably figured I wouldn't be smart enough to get out. Uh, she was right."

"What do you want me to do?" Kayle asked flatly.

"The wife put a kink in my battle droids. They're in some sort of discharge loop, and if I move from this spot, they're threatening to blow up." Tanis gave a sad sigh that almost made Kayle pity him. Almost. "She knew I wouldn't know how to fix them. Could you try to do some repairs? They don't care if you move. It's just me who's stuck."

T3 gave a beep, and Tanis' eyes lit up as if he'd just seen a couple thousand credits. "Hey yeah! You've got yourself a 'mech droid, there! Tell it to do it! Please!" Kayle winced when Tanis said 'Tell it to do it'. The little Astromech droid could be quite tempermental.

T3 made a strange splurging sound and sent a small bolt of electricity at Tanis.

"Hey, now... did your droid just spit at me? I just need a little help here."

"Commentary: I say we blast the meatbag and save you the trouble, master." HK said.

"What's with all the droids, lately? My wife get to you, too?" Tanis shook his head as if trying to rid himself of a terrible thought.

"Negative. I just don't like organic meatbags. Except for the master, of course. Ha ha."

Sighing, Kayle raised a hand and gestured in the general direction of each droid. All four of them suddenly stopped moving, then fell in a smoking heap onto the sand.

"There, you're safe." He said. "Anything else?"

Tanis looked like there was something else, but he flinched under Kayle's stare and ran off in the direction of Anchorhead.

"Okay, one sniveling idiot taken care of, one to go." Kayle said.

"Who's the next one?" Zora asked, catching up to Kayle as he trudged in the direction of a Sand Crawler. The Czerka woman had given them the hunting licenses on the condition that they dealt with the Sand People. The best way to find an angry native was to find the invaders main vehicle. The natives would most likely not be far off.

"Griff Vao. Mission gave me the rundown on what the Czerka bitch in the office said." Kayle said flatly. "From the description she gave of Griff, he doesn't sound much better then Tanis."

As they approached the Sand Crawler, Kayle spotted six or seven Tusken's in a battle against nine or ten Czerka miners – the Sand people were winning.

Kayle ignited his lightsaber and leapt into the battle, swinging the blade in an emerald green arc that took out three Sand people. Zora rushed over and let loose a blast of Force energy that threw another couple Sand people to the ground, then decapitated each of them in turn. HK-47 seemed to be having the time of his life – shooting anything that moved (minus Zora, Kayle and T3-M3).

"HK-47, stop shooting the miners!" Zora shouted over the blaster fire. The droid ceased fire, and then turned to Zora.

"Statement: As you command, Master." The droid said.

"Who are you?" One of the miners, obviously the leader, asked. "Ah. It doesn't matter. I saw how you fought that last group of Sand people? Be ready, they may attack again at any second."

He was right, the next half-hour was spent doing nothing but wiping out Sand people that came too close to Kayle and Zora's lightsabers, or came within firing range of T3 or HK. When it was all finally over, the miner leader spoke up again, "Thanks for your help. I don't think we'll try holding this position for much longer. We're not soldiers." He looked Kayle up and down, as if only just realizing the younger man was carrying a lightsaber. "What would someone like you be doing all the way out here?"

"I'm…" He wasn't sure he should tell a member of Czerka what their plan was. Zora came to a quick solution.

"We've answered your question and you will now return to Anchorhead and tell the woman in the Czerka office to be ready for a ton of Gaffi sticks." She backed up her words with a push of the Force through their minds, and they all suddenly started running in the direction of Anchorhead.

"Okay, grab the Gaffi sticks and a few of the robes." Kayle said.

"The robes?" Zora asked as she bent beside the nearest corpse to grab the Gaffi stick.

"Mission said that the Sand people had stolen all of Czerka's land-based turrets, and used them to fortify their enclave." Kayle explained. He handed Zora the bag that held their supply of water. "We'll need disguises to get by unseen." Zora nodded, dumping four pairs of robes into the bag. They then collected the Gaffi sticks, and started the half-hour walk back to Anchorhead.


	14. Chapter 13: Seth's Secret

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: Erik wants an explanation – and Carth's about to make a huge mistake.

Chapter 13: Seth's Secret

Finally back at the Ebon Hawk, there was a small argument about what to do the following day. Mission out-right refused to be left behind, seeing as her brother was somewhere in the Sand people Enclave, and Zora insisted on coming, since they needed HK to translate, and she'd been the one to buy him, therefore he'd respond to her as his Master.

Kayle would be going, of course, and the final set of robes would be worn by Bastila. Kayle was unsure the reason she didn't want to be left on the ship, they he suspected it had something to do with the strange urges he'd felt through their bond the night before.

As night fell on Tatooine, everyone went their separate ways. Bastila, doing her best to avoid Erik's detection, snuck down the corridor in the direction of the cockpit. Carth and Canderous both went in the direction of the Living Area/Garage, followed closely by Zora and HK. Kayle, Zaalbar, T3 and Mission decided to play a game of Nar Shadaar rules Pazaak, and went in the direction of the Port Dormitory. Erik went in search of Bastila. And Juhani and Jolee went into the Cargo Hold to practice lightsaber combat.

Zora found Carth cleaning his blaster, and Canderous working on his heavy repeating blaster at the Workbench. Ignoring the Mandalorian, Zora walked over to the Swoop they had stored on the Ebon Hawk, crawled under it, and began adding some upgrades she'd bought from Yuka Laka.

She came back out a few moments later. "You're watching me. Again."

Carth looked a little taken aback, then he sighed, and spoke, "I was hoping you hadn't noticed."

"I'd have to be blind to not notice." Zora said.

"Well, I ah... I've just been admiring you." Carth stammered. Zora gave him a questioning look. "Not, uhh, not anything like that, though..."

"I've been watching you in action. Your, your skills... you have a natural talent that is incredible." Carth said. "Not that, ah, all I do is watch you or anything. I don't mean anything by it."

Zora smiled. "I don't mind you watching me, Carth." She said, making to go back under the swoop, until Carth spoke again.

"Ha! Why didn't you tell me that sooner? You would have saved me a lot of trouble." He said, laughing. Zora laughed too. "I will say one thing, however. We've come a long way with your help. Whether it's the Force or fate or just dumb luck... I'm glad you're here. We probably would have never made it this far without you. I... should have said this long before, instead of doubting you. I, ah, hope you can forgive me."

"Is that it?" Zora asked flatly.

"Er…is what it?"

"I mean is that how you ask for forgiveness?" Zora asked, in a way that reminded Carth of a judge passing judgment on a known criminal.

"What am I supposed to say?" He asked. "I was wrong. I was a stubborn fool. I... Look, I have trouble admitting it when a beautiful woman has my number...ok?"

"You think I'm beautiful?" Zora said in mock-surprise.

"I'll, ah, take that as a yes. I'm glad that's settled. Shall we... shall we get back to what we were doing?" Carth suggested. Zora stood.

"Carth, there's something I need to tell you." She said. "But not here, come with me."

While this was all happening, Erik, after following Bastila all around the ship (she'd somehow slipped out of the cockpit before he'd gotten to her), finally cornered her in the Med Bay.

"We need to talk about what happened between us." He said flatly.

"We've... we've already been over this. It was a moment of weakness, a stumble brought on by unbridled passions. But my emotions are firmly in check once more." Bastila refused to look Erik in the face. She purposefully kept her eyes focused on the floor, and continued speaking, "We need to stay focused on stopping Darth Revan. And I want the others to stay focused as well. I don't want them to get suspicious and start gossiping about our little encounter!"

"'Little encounter'?" Erik snapped. "Since when did sleeping with someone you love become such a small thing?"

"Until our mission is over we need to act with discretion." Bastila said, ignoring what Erik had said. "We shouldn't speak of this anymore... not until Revan is defeated!" Bastila walked toward the door, but Erik grabbed her arm.

"Bastila, I can't do that!" He said. Bastila narrowed her eyes in concentration – she needed to concentrate hard on what she wanted to do when she was around him – and Erik was thrown backwards, forcing him to let go of her.

"Try." She said, and turned and left the room.

Zora looked lovingly into Carth's eyes. "Carth, something has happened. Something I would've thought I was over. Something that all the training in the galaxy wouldn't have prepared me for." She leaned in closer and lightly kissed him. "I think…no, I know. I love you."

If Carth was shocked by this little revelation, he didn't show it. He kissed her back. When they pulled apart, Zora's eyes were shining with happiness. "That certainly wasn't as hard as I'd thought it would be." She said.

"Bleep-boop-beep-beep." The droid said, which translated into an accusation that Kayle had cheated.

"What makes you say that?" Kayle asked the droid.

"Boop-beep-bloop." The droid answered, which translated into '_How else could you have beaten me?_'

"Perhaps it was skill?" Kayle suggested.

"Beep-bloop-bleep-beep." The droid insisted. Which translated into '_Pazaak is random cards – skill has nothing to do with it._'

To emphasize its point, T3 zapped Kayle with its shock arm. After a few moments on the floor staring at the droid in irritation, Kayle scrambled to his feet and handed the droid his one hundred credit chips.

"I hate playing Pazaak against a droid." He muttered. Zaalbar nodded in agreement. So far, Mission and T3 had wiped the floor with the wookie and the Jedi, ending up with over five hundred credits. "What does a droid need with credits anyway?"

"Bleep-boop-beep-boop." The droid said. Mission laughed. Kayle frowned.

"What do you mean, you won't tell me? I'm your owner!" Kayle said. The droid responded by zapping him again. Kayle looked a little irritated for a moment, then all four of them burst out laughing (well, Mission and Kayle did – Zaalbar's was a strange grunting sound, and T3 just made many different sounds at once).

Canderous was in the Garage, doing what he liked best – well, what he liked second-best – which was modifying and upgrading his weapons. Zaalbar had also given him Bacca's sword for the night to add a few upgrades to it. Kayle had said it was a sign of trust if a wookie gave their weapon to you, whether it is for a year, a month or one night.

So he'd spent an hour or two strengthening the vibration cell in the blade, and added one of Kayle's power crystals to it, which seemed to give it an odd green glow. After that he had gotten to work on his own weapon, a Mandalorian Repeating Blaster. There wasn't much to do, as it was already at almost top capacity in power, but it didn't stop him opening it up and adding another power cell, just for a little extra power.

It was only then that he noticed the Cathar Jedi, Juhani, had entered the Garage, and had begun upgrading her ruby lightsaber. He finished his blaster cannon, and walked over to her. "Mind if I watch?"

Juhani nodded toward a seat to indicate she didn't mind. Canderous took the seat and watched as Juhani tightened the emitter fixture on her saber, then added the Barab Ore that Bastila had given to her. After a moment's hesitation, she also added a glowing silver-blue crystal after taking out the red one. To Canderous' surprise, she handed the still open lightsaber to him for inspection.

He took the saber after a second of hesitation, and rotated it in his hand to get a good look from all angles. "Judging from what I know of lightsabers, it seems to have been constructed quite well." He said after a few moments. He handed it back to Juhani. "A mighty weapon constructed by a mighty warrior." Canderous could've sworn the Cathar's cheeks coloured underneath her fur, but he wasn't sure.

_Deep in the heart of Yavin IV, in the lowest room of the darkest temple, the Mantle awaits…and shadows gather around the Heart…look deep to find its glow…and do with it what you will… _

Kayle's eyes opened. A vision, but not of the planet they were currently at. Yavin, or at least one of its moons, held some secret they had to find.

Kayle slid out of his bunk, and looked around: he saw Carth, and sleeping – and right next to Carth was Zora. Shaking his head, Kayle looked further down the row. Erik, Seth, Zaalbar on his extended bed, and Canderous. Jolee would likely still be awake, and if not, he'd be asleep in the med bay, which had comfortable beds.

He turned and exited the Port Dorm. After scouring the ship, he found that only T3 and HK were still awake, and that was because they didn't need sleep. Sighing, he walked over to the workbench and took out the lightsaber he'd gotten from the Dark Jedi. Why had she been so familiar to him? And why was he so reluctant to dispose of the lightsaber?

With another sigh, he took out some tools and dismantled the lightsaber, showing him a bright red ruby, a Loridian Gemstone, and an Adegan Crystal. He looked at the pieces used to construct the lightsaber. Aside from the handgrip, the Dark Jedi had used a Dragite Lens, and Improved Deflection Emitter and a Telgorn Jolt Cell Mark II; it was obviously not the first saber she'd constructed.

Shaking his head, he returned the ruby to its rightful place, and closed the hilt.

"What was it?" Kayle looked up to see Bastila standing there. "I saw nothing to do with the Star Maps or the Star Forge. What could it be?"

Kayle shook his head. "I don't know. But I think we need to find out; after we leave Tatooine." He got up. "By the way, next time you plan on sleeping with someone, warn me. I had a few uncomfortable sensations through the night."

Zora woke up slowly, not wanting her dream to end. Then she saw it wasn't a dream. "Hello." She whispered softly, seeing Carth lying beside her. "Well, we certainly acted quickly." She said, kissing Carth. "I didn't want our night to end."

"It doesn't have to." Carth said.

At that moment, Kayle came into the room. "Okay people, time to get up!" He said.

"You were saying?" Zora said, chuckling. She Force-Pulled her clothes off the floor and into her hand, gave Carth one last kiss, then wrapped herself in her cloak and went to have a shower. Kayle followed her, in case Carth decided he wasn't happy about the interruption.

Half an hour later, everyone split up, Mission, Zora, Kayle, Bastila and HK-47 leaving the Ebon Hawk and going in the direction of the gate that was the only exit from Anchorhead, Erik, Jolee and Juhani would replenish the supplies needed for the trip to Yavin, and the remaining crew members would guard the Ebon Hawk (which meant sitting around playing Sabacc).

Seth typed in the access code to the footlocker at the end of his bed. After a moment, an electronic voice said, "Your name, please."

"Seth Kelpak." Seth answered. There was a click, signifying one of the locks were deactivated. Then the voice spoke again, "_Subject shows correct vocal pattern. Computer will now scan retina pattern._"

Seth knelt in front of the footlocker, and a small scanner popped out of the second lock. It extended until it was equal with his eye, then scanned.

"_Subject shows correct retina pattern._" The voice said, and a second lock clicked. "_Computer will now begin Trivia Test._"

"Begin test." Seth said.

"_You are in combat with a Dark Jedi who serves an enemy of yours. There is a pause in the combat. What do you do?_"

"Attack him again." Seth answered.

"_True or false: it is passion that fuels the Force?_"

"True: Passion, and desire... that is what brings conflict, which gives power." Seth answered.

"_You discover an aspect of the Force that gives you great power. Do you share it and strengthen your army as a whole or keep it to yourself?_"

"I keep it to myself."

"_Who do you serve?_"

Seth was silent for a moment. When he spoke, his voice was filled with pride, "I serve Darth Revan, the Dark Lord of the Sith!"

With those words, the third lock clicked and the footlocker opened. Inside was an archaic, rune covered vibrodagger, a curved lightsaber hilt, and a strange blue stone. Seth smirked, then pulled a small blood-red stone from a pocket of his robes and placed it next to the blue stone, the closed the footlocker and safely locked it again. It was the crystal he'd stolen from the Jedi's footlocker while she was sleeping, an aspect of the Force that could strengthen his army as a whole, or its power could be focused toward one individual: him.

The Sith Apprentice stood and walked out of the Port Dormitory, heading in the direction of the Garage/Living Area; maybe Zaalbar would be interested in having a game of Pazaak.


	15. Chapter 14: Zora’s Grief

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: Carth, Carth, Carth, why did you do it? He's going to regret it.

Chapter 14: Zora's Grief

For half an hour, Kayle, Komad and Bastila cut at the Krayt Dragons' rough hide, until finally they cut through. In just a few seconds, Komad had reached into the Dragons' gullet and pulled out a handful of shiny pearls.

"I thank you for your aid, human. You have earned a share of the victory, such as it is." The yellow Twi'lek said. Komad handed Kayle half the pearls, and then pocketed the rest. "Again, I thank you for your help here today, human. I shall see you again, I am sure."

With that, the Twi'lek jumped on his speeder and headed back to Anchorhead. Kayle, Bastila, and Canderous had one more thing to do before they could follow him. All three of them walked into the cave, each for a different reason. The first thing Bastila did was search each of the remains, looking for her father's Holocron. Canderous went to one side, where he hoped to find the armour of a Mandalorian general, Cassus Fett, buried beneath the sands. Kayle went to the back of the cave, and activated the Star Map.

It activated easily enough, and the tripod separated like a flower, just as the last two had, projecting a circle of green, blue and black lights.

"Anybody else get the feeling that finding this Star Map in the back of this Krayt Dragon's cave is more than just a coincidence?" Canderous asked, walking over from a box he'd uncovered, which no doubt held Cassus Fett's armour.

"The Star Map's are artifacts of the dark side." Bastila said, joining the two men with a small bag in her hand. "The Krayt Dragon may have been drawn here by its dark power, only to be consumed by it."

"Whatever the reason, I think it's time we left." Kayle said. Bastila and Canderous nodded in agreement, and they turned and left, heading toward the speeders parked outside the cave.

In one of the few well constructed houses in Anchorhead, Kyron Firemoon sat behind a desk of varnished wroshyr wood. One of the few things he'd been able to smuggle onto Taris since Revan had sent him here. Why the Dark Lord would want his best crime lord on this pit of a world, Kyron would never know.

The door opened. Kyron looked up to see a figure wearing a grey robe with the hood drawn up to hide their. Kyron also saw the cylindrical metal hilt hanging at the person's belt. "A Jedi? Come to visit little old me on Tatooine?" He stopped as the 'Jedi' ignited the lightsaber, a blood-red blade bursting from the end of the hilt. "Lord Rev-?" The lightsaber blade was driven through his chest, cutting off his speech.

Moments later, one of his slaves walked in to announce a visitor. The Twi'lek woman saw her master's body and screamed.

Zora heard the scream, and leapt over the front desk of the front office, igniting her emerald lightsaber when she heard the snap-hiss of two lightsabers from the inner-office. The blast doors were sealed shut before she reached them, so she spent precious moments cutting through them. On the other side were two Dark Jedi and two dead bodies; one of them was the graying-haired man whom she knew to be her father.

"Ah, another victim for us to…eliminate." The female Dark Jedi charged at Zora. The young woman was filled with anger; her father had been murdered, before she ever got to meet him. With all the anger built up in those few seconds, it wasn't hard for Zora to kill the first Dark Jedi. The second lost his lightsaber, Zora slicing it in half, before surrendering to the enraged Padawan.

Zora shook her head, clearing it of anger. She stunned the Dark Jedi with the Force, and then commed the others to come help her decide what to do with him. In the end, the put a Force suppression bubble around him, making it impossible for him to call upon the Force. He would break through it eventually, but not before reaching Coruscant and the Jedi Council.

With the Star Map found, Bastila's relationship with her mother mended, and Griff on the run from Kayle and the Exchange both, there was nothing left keeping them on Tatooine, and the Ebon Hawk's crew were happy to leave the desert world behind.

Kayle ignited his lightsaber, the emerald green filling the room with an eerie glow. He was in the Cargo Hold, moving through the different lightsaber forms against non-existent opponents. He swung, deflecting a non-existent blaster bolt, and struck, taking out the one with the blaster. He raised his lightsaber to block an attack, and was interrupted from his training by a sudden shout from the Port Dormitory's.

He deactivated his saber, and sprinted out of the Cargo Hold. He ran into Bastila and Juhani on the way, and the three of them came to the Port Dormitory just in time to see Carth slam into the wall, Zora standing on the other side of the room with a hurt look on her face.

"I can't believe you said that!" She said. She turned on her heel, not noticing any of the Jedi as she seemed to glide out of the Dormitory, heading in the direction of the Starboard section.

Kayle walked over and helped Carth to his feet. "What happened?" He asked.

"Well, I was comforting Zora, I mean, she'd just found out where her father was, and then suddenly, he's killed by Dark Jedi." Carth said. "And she said she loved me, and I meant to say it. I did, technically, I just…" He trailed off. Kayle probed his thoughts for a moment.

"Oh…" He said. "You said Morgana instead of Zora." He whispered. "Well, the girl did just lose her father, you can only expect her to be upset, and I suppose being called your wife's name didn't help. Not that you're at fault, Carth." Kayle added quickly. "Perhaps she just needs time."

They arrived at Yavin a couple of days later. Their first stop was a space station which belonged to a Rodian named Suvam Tam. He told them about the ruins on the surface of the planet, and they returned to the Ebon Hawk to travel to the planet's surface.

The crew split into two groups. Jolee, Seth, Carth, Zaalbar, and Mission and the droids were staying on board, Zora, Bastila, Juhani, Kayle and Erik would investigate the ruins. They went into the temple, and almost instantly, the five Jedi were all-but overwhelmed with the Dark Side. Seconds later, the blast door slammed shut behind them, trapping them in the temple.

A/N: Oks, not a very long chapter. Get over it, I'm having trouble writing. For those of you who never thought this chapter is short, there're free chips and juma juice and the world premiere of this fic...incoherent ranting continues. Reveiws always help the story along, only four chapters until you discover the identity of Revan. Just a little tidbit of information, the 'fake' revan will be killed.


	16. Chapter 15: Carth’s Loss

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: And so, the death of a character comes (well, the death of more then A character, but that doesn't matter). Mourn them, remember them, then continue reading, got it?

Chapter 15: Carth's Loss

Jolee hurled a large piece of debris at the sealed door with the Force. All it did was make a loud bang and rebound. Seth ignited his lightsaber and slashed at the door. He was thrown backwards about half a dozen feet.

"Okay, I guess that rules out cutting through with a lightsaber." Seth said. The comlink buzzed to life.

"Hey guys," Kayle said. "Don't try cutting through with a lightsaber…" Seth rolled his eyes. Jolee knocked him over again with the Force. "…Erik just tried and he learned how to fly."

"Hey, what's that sound?" Jolee asked.

"That, that would be us splitting up to find the main computer." Kayle said. "We're hoping it will unseal the doors. We've each got a comlink, so if something happens, we'll let you know."

"Okay, Jolee out." Jolee deactivated the comlink, and handed it to Carth. "Seth, come with me, we'll see if we can track them with the Force." Seth nodded and followed the old man into the Ebon Hawk.

For about half an hour, the comlink remained silent except the occasional buzz of static. Then finally, Zora's voice came through. "Carth, we've found the central computer." She said. "Okay, is the door opening?"

Carth looked over. For a second, it looked the same. But then he saw that the seal on it had broken, and it was very slowly sliding open again. "Yes, it's opening."

"Good, I'll just lock it when it's completely-…" She stopped. "What're you doing-?" The sound of a lightsaber activating came over the comlink, and then Zora's scream. Carth pulled out his blaster and rushed in through the half-opened door, running headlong into Kayle.

"Zora needs help!" He said. Kayle nodded.

"We know, we heard it over our own comlink!" He said, and they turned down the passage Zora and Erik had gone down. They ran as fast as they could, but all they found when they arrived was the computer she'd used to open the door; there was no sign of Erik or Zora.

"Zora?" Carth shouted. "ZORA!" Kayle let the Force flow into him, trying to find the other Jedi. They had little doubt now who Revan was. Erik, Revan, had taken their friend. Carth's comlink crackled to life at that moment.

"Zora?" He said hopefully. A synthesized voice came over the comlink.

"She's gone." The voice said. "Zora Firemoon is dead. As will be a few others in, oh, about five minutes."

"The Ebon Hawk!" Kayle said. He and Juhani, both, by far, the best at speeding their movements with the Force, sped out of the room. Bastila ran after them, followed by Carth. They got the Ebon Hawk in three minutes.

Kayle gathered the Force around him, as did Bastila, and they located the problem.

"There's a detonator in the Engine Room!" They said together. They all raced in, and thankfully, one of Kayle many skills was demolitions, and he quickly disabled the detonator, with about ten seconds to spare.

"Okay, immediate problem over. Search the ship for any other problems." He said. Everyone nodded and split up, searching every part of the ship. The Cargo Hold had been sealed off and locked – Carth quickly took care of that from the communications room using the security system – where they found Canderous, Mission, Jolee, Zaalbar and the droids.

"Where's Seth?" Kayle asked.

"Revan took the boy with him." Canderous answered. Bastila ran up behind Kayle.

"No, he didn't." She said. "He's in the Starboard Dormitory." She said. Kayle followed her back to the dormitory, where they found Seth, a stunned look on his face and a lightsaber wound in his chest. "Revan killed him, just like he killed Zora."

No one said much on the trip to Manaan. Bastila and Kayle had found two crystals in the ruins, so they spent most of their time locked away adding to their lightsabers. Bastila's constructed a whole new one, another saberstaff, with a silvery-blue blade. She had gotten Canderous and Juhani to help her make the Emitter Matrix and Power Cell; she found the Lens she needed amongst the junk stuff in the workbench shelves by Davik, and used a Krayt Dragon pearl and the Barab Ore that Kayle had given her on Kashyyyk.

When her lightsaber was finished, and she still wanted to keep her hands busy. So she took out all her robes, and began cutting, sewing and dying. When that was done, half her robes were missing seventy-five percent of the sleeves and the middles, leaving them short-sleeve two-part robes. The other half of her robes now resembled the clothing she'd been wearing when she'd met Kayle on Taris, and she'd dyed them turquoise-blue to match her lightsaber.

She smiled at her handiwork. She had eight robes all up, and seven of them were laid out on her bed. She was wearing one of her new turquoise ones. But, surprisingly, there was still a day or so left before they reached Manaan.

Kayle found the new Bastila much more likable then the old one. He found her with Mission early one morning, both with their legs crossed. When he got closer, he felt a push through their bond telling him to leave. He decided it was best not to interrupt, and turned on his heel and left. Bastila told him later on that she'd been teaching Mission to meditate – the surprising thing was finding a spark of the Force in the Twi'lek girl – a spark Bastila intended to nurture and strengthen.

It took Kayle a moment to realize that Bastila intended to train Mission to use the Force. He wasn't surprised the following morning to find Bastila and Mission sparring with swords. Zaalbar helped teach Mission with sword training as well.

Finally, the silence became too much for Kayle. With Jolee busy with his concoctions, Canderous working on his weapons, Carth mourning Zora still, and Bastila and Zaalbar training Mission, Kayle sought out the only one left who wasn't busy who was not a droid.

He found Juhani sitting by herself in the Storage Compartment. "Watcha doin?" He asked.

"I was…thinking." She said. "I think I am ready to continue our conversation."

Kayle nodded. "What happened after your father died?" He asked.

"After my father died, my mother was left to support me alone. A single non-human woman, living in one of the worst, most violent slums on Taris." Juhani sighed, as if coming upon a bad memory. "It was not easy for her."

"What do you mean?" Kayle asked.

"When my father was killed it seemed that something in her began to die as well." Juhani said. "She worked. She worked as hard as she was able, but over time she began to waste away. I later learned that she was unable to get enough money to feed both of us, and had to start borrowing from the Exchange, a band of cutthroats and smugglers. But even that was not enough..."

"If you do not want to continue…" Kayle began.

"No, I need to talk about this." Juhani said. "I need to share it with _someone_." She took a calming breath. "She hid what she was doing from me. She gave most of her food to me, so that I would be strong. But she herself was suffering deeply from it. In the end she could go on no longer, and collapsed at the cantina where she worked one day."

Juhani sighed again, and Kayle saw traces of tears in the Cathar woman's eyes, but she continued speaking. "She never recovered. There was nothing really that I could do for her... She left me no money, and no doctor would see her without being paid first. I sat by her bed for days as she lay there dying. I never want that to happen to someone I care about ever again..." Juhani reached into a pocket of her robes. "This was the only possession she left to me." She showed it to Kayle, a small wooden carving with patterns on it.

"But there was still the money she had borrowed... She had never paid it back, and made no provisions for her death. You must understand: the Exchange is brutal. They care nothing for the life of a sentient being. They are the major suppliers of slaves on Taris."

"Slaves…" Kayle muttered. "You were enslaved?"

Juhani nodded. "They thought it was appropriate that, with my mother owing them money, the debt should be passed on to me. And with no way to pay, they took me by force." She snarled. "You have no idea what it is like to be bound like a beast and treated as such. It was the worst time of my life. They treated me like livestock. They were waiting for a buyer to give them some credits for me when the Jedi came to fight the Mandalorians."

"They freed you?" Kayle guessed. Juhani nodded.

"The Jedi could not abide by what they saw there, and drove the Exchange from the face of the world, freeing those of us imprisoned there." She said, and then her face saddened. "But the Jedi soon left to fight their war. And I was left with a dream..."

"A dream?"

"I swore that I would become a Jedi. As soon as I had enough money to do it, I bought passage on a freighter headed for Dantooine." Juhani said. "And we both know what has happened since then."

"Juhani…"

"I am grateful to you for having given me the opportunity to fulfill my dream, rather than become what I hated.

"Someday I may make it up to you, but for now, let us keep on the task at hand." She stood, and walked off in the direction of the Garage.

They arrived at Manaan the day after Mission's training began. Bastila insisted on bringing Mission with them, and Jolee said he had to find an old friend he'd heard was here. Kayle sent T3 and Carth with Jolee, and Mission and Bastila accompanied him to the Republic embassy, and Canderous, Juhani and Zaalbar to go looking for any info in the local cantina.

"Welcome to Manaan." Said the Republic representative. "I am Roland Wann. As the official representative of the Republic Embassy on this planet, I am here to help all citizens of the Republic should they require aid."

"We am on a mission from the Jedi Council, perhaps you can help me with it." Bastila said.

"Uh... of course, of course." Roland said. "I will do whatever I can. But I am only a simple diplomatic representative of the Republic. I doubt I can be of any use to the Jedi Council."

"I seek a Star Map, the remnant of an ancient and forgotten race." Kayle said. The representative shifted nervously. "You know something." Kayle said. It wasn't a question.

"Well... perhaps. But if you want to get information about that, you'll have to do something for me first."

Kayle sighed. "What do you want us to do?" He asked.

"We recently dispatched a submersible reconnaissance droid in the ocean surrounding Ahto City. On it's return trip back to the Republic embassy it was driven off by the firaxan sharks." Roland said. "Its automatic systems floated it to the surface, but we could not retrieve it in time. The Sith were applying subtle pressure to the Selkath authorities for some reason we have not determined, and were able to delay us long enough that they could retrieve the droid before we did.

"The droid's data centers are heavily encrypted, so it will take the Sith several days, we believe, to get to its data. It was captured 12 hours ago. It is imperative that we get it back!"

"Where is this droid?" Bastila asked absently. Her attention had been drawn to a vid-screen. It showed a report on a Republic war hero being arrested. His alleged crime was killing a Sith soldier. It showed a photo of a young woman with a curtain of jet black hair, with a blaster wound in her chest.

"It is heavily guarded, we are sure, in the Sith Embassy here on Manaan. Since we have no remaining soldiers to spare, and certainly not our elite ones, we have no one capable of entering the Sith base and retrieving it." Roland answered. "That is what we would ask you to do."

Bastila saw something not many other people would see in the photo. It was very subtle, but there were hints of the Force around the woman, even though she was dead and it was just a photo.

"How do I get in the Sith base?" Kayle asked.

"That isn't going to be a problem, Kayle." Bastila said. "I have an idea." She took him by the sleeve and dragged him out of the Republic Embassy. "That is, as long as you don't mind posing as a Sith Soldier."

It turned out; Kayle _did_ mind posing as a soldier. Several hours, and six arguments later, Bastila finally gave in and permitted Kayle to pose as a Sith Apprentice instead of a soldier. Bastila would pose as a Dark Jedi, and Mission would be her apprentice. They'd had some difficulty getting their hands on the disguises. Until Kayle lured three unsuspecting Sith onto the Ebon Hawk.

As soon as they were out of sight of the cameras, the Sith attacked Kayle, which Bastila had been hoping for. It meant they didn't have to attack unsuspecting opponents. They easily disarmed and knocked out the Sith, and stole their robes. They locked them in the Cargo Hold with a Force suppression bubble in the room.

They walked up to the guard at the elevator that led down to the Sith Embassy. He obviously didn't need a code for Sith Lords and Dark Jedi, as he just waved them through. On the elevator, Mission activated her stealth unit in case they ran into trouble.

Which they did. "You there! I don't recognize you! How did you get in here?" Demanded a snobby looking woman behind a computer desk.

"Does your disguise get us past her?" Kayle muttered for only Bastila to hear.

Bastila put on her best self-assured look, and stared the woman in the eyes. "We have an appointment. You would not wish to upset our Master, not after…" Bastila racked her brains for the name of the woman she'd seen in the report. "…not after what happened to Deraya."

"Nice try, but I know for a fact that the Sith didn't kill her for going traitor." The woman said. "I saw with my own eyes that Republic Officer killing her. Shot her in the back. But then the Republic meddled in the evidence, so we planted the medal to…" She suddenly realized what she'd said.

"We're authorized to be here." Bastila said, pushing at the woman's thoughts with the Force. "You don't remember what we've been talking about."

"You…you're…No, your Force tricks won't work on me." The woman said, obviously fighting hard to break through Bastila's power. Kayle was stunned at just how much power he felt coming from Bastila. Her power had jumped as fast as dropping a lit match into the grass planes of Dantooine. Even more surprising was the woman's willpower, fighting through Bastila's mind power.

"I…" Bastila focused harder. And suddenly the woman's eyes went blank. She nodded. "You are authorized to be here…" She blinked a couple of times. "I'm sorry, what were we talking about?"

"You were just directing us to the Deconstruction Room."

"Oh, right, it's just down the hall, turn…"

As the Mandalorian, Wookie and Cathar walked down the loading ramp of the Ebon Hawk, you never would have guessed that one of them was a Jedi and the other a Tribe Chieftain. Juhani had dyed streaks of her fur down her semi-bare arms, making them a deep magenta, and her ponytail had been streaked with acid-green. She exchanged her Jedi robes for a grey-blue jumpsuit, and a brown leather vest, and had added a few earrings to her ears.

Zaalbar had dyed much of his brown fur silver and black, and gelled it up (much to his dislike) with the help of Mission before they she and her team had left on their own mission, making it look somewhat matted. He was carrying a heavily modified wookie Bowcaster.

Canderous hadn't needed to do anything; he simply got changed into the black clothes and the red vest he'd been wearing the day he'd met them, back on Taris. The tattoo on his right bicep, showing clearly that he was Mandalorian, was visible, and would make people much more…cooperative, they hoped.

They had barely left the hangar when they ran into an ugly looking Twi'lek. He was a sickly purple, with flecks of pale green down his lekku's. Upon seeing Juhani, he grunted and stared at her, half-hunger half-disgust.

"What the hell is your kind doing here?" He snapped. "Bad enough I have to deal with all these other idiots, but now there's a stinkin' Cathar on this world too?"

"I have as much right to be here as you do, SIR!" Juhani snarled. It was hard to tell if she was acting as a bounty hunter or not.

"A big mouth like that can get you killed." Canderous said menacingly, fingering the hand held cannon.

"Oooh, big Mandalorian, hiding behind his Cathar pet… And a woman at that!" He snarled at the young Cathar. "We should have exterminated all you Cathar when we had the chance."

Juhani's eyes widened, in anger and horror. "Wha…What do you know about my world!" She demanded. Even without the Force, both Canderous and Zaalbar could see that she was infuriated.

"I know enough that..." He stopped suddenly, a look of vague recognition on his face. "Hey, wait a minute... you look familiar somehow..."

Juhani narrowed her eyes at the man. "What…you?"

"You annoy me, scum." Canderous said. Zaalbar saw he was itching to pull the trigger on his blaster cannon. The big wookie shook his head, and Canderous nodded.

"This doesn't concern you, Mandalorian scum." Xor snarled. He turned back the Juhani, giving her a cold stare. "Hm... now where could I have... No, he's dead and she likely is too. I..."

Juhani snapped. "What are you talking about?" She demanded, her hand on her blaster hilt. Canderous had expected her to take a vibrosword, but she had insisted on a pair of blasters.

"Maybe I was wrong. Still, I think a specimen like you would be a nice addition to my collection." Xor nodded, as if he had been arguing with himself. Then he turned to Canderous. "So, tell me Mandalorian, how much would your Cathar cost."

Canderous levelled his blaster cannon at the man's chest. "She's a partner, not a slave." He snarled.

"Now don't be so selfish. We both know Cathar aren't real people anyway." Xor said. All three of them snarled at him with that. The Mandalorians had got a lot of that during the war because of their thirst for battle, and Zaalbar and Juhani had gotten plent of words like that back on Taris. "The females make amusing pets, but males should be put down like the animals they are. I remember one time on Taris..."

Juhani's blasters were out. Not pointed at anyone, but they were out. And there was utter rage on her face. "WHAT DID YOU SAY!" She demanded. "WHAT DID YOU DO ON TARIS, YOU SCUM!"

"Put one of you down like the animals you are. So easy... then I saw one of the females on the auction block, but those darn Jedi..." Xor answered.

"It was you!" Juhani growled, taking a step toward the man, her blasters rising to point at his chest. He didn't seem to notice.

"What? Me? Oh ho! Now I remember where I've seen that pretty little face before." He smiled horribly. "You were the little Cathar I was going to purchase. But those Jedi came and stole my pet away from me!"

Zaalbar roared in disgust. Canderous said a string of insults in Mandalorian, as did Juhani, earning her a shocked stare from both of them.

Xor didn't seem to notice or care. "When I was fighting with the Mandalorians against the Cathar, I developed an appreciation for these creatures. They make excellent servants if properly trained." He turned his horrible smile to Canderous. "Come now, will you let your pet go? I'm sure we can come up with a price we both think is fair."

"You know, I don't have much respect for those who view others as less then human just because they look or act differently." Canderous said, keeping his voice level.

"And I will see you _dead _for what you have done to my people!" Juhani snarled.

"Er…now, now, don't be hasty."

"Juhani!" A voice sounded from behind Xor. Bastila, Kayle and Mission were standing. Bastila had been the one to speak. "Back off you scum!" She said, sensing the evil within the 'man'. When he ignored her, she emphasized her command with a shove of the Force.

The Twi'lek got up from the ground, turning to snarl at Bastila. He then turned on Juhani. "I will have you yet, Cathar." He scampered away. Juhani took a deep, calming breath, and turned away. "Thank you." She whispered. And then fled back into the Ebon Hawk.


	17. Chapter 16: Juhani's Pact

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: Nothing to report.

Chapter 16: Juhani's Pact

Kayle activated the sonic emitter on his wrist, and the Firaxa shark was killed by the shock waves sent through the water. Between the insane Selkath, the damaged droids, and the nutcase in the locker, he was beginning to feel irritated.

Thankfully, the door back into a breathable location was only a half a dozen feet away from him. Of course, in the cumbersome environment suit, it took him almost a minute to cover that small area. When he did, he went through the airlock as fast as he possibly could.

After taking out a few Selkath, he managed to get himself into a room with two locked doors and a forcefield. Behind the forcefield, he saw a man and a woman.

"Who-?" He began.

"No - no, you can't come in here!" The man shouted. "You'll let the Firaxa and the Selkath in! No - stay out! Stay out!"

"Kill them!" The woman cried. "Kill them now!"

Before Kayle could say anything, he felt the air pressure of the room he was in drop. The doors all slammed shut, and locked. Kayle fell to his knees, the sudden drop in air taking a fast toll on him.

_Kayle!_

"Bastila…?" He gasped.

_Stop struggling! I can barely sense you!_

"Bastila, I can hear you in me head…" He was on his hands and knees, gasping for air.

_I can't hear anything you say out loud. Don't say anything, just listen._ Kayle quieted his thoughts, and Bastila continued. _There is an ancient Force technique which allows a Jedi to preserve the air in the lungs. You must do this if you intend to survive._

Kayle tried to do as she said, but it was hard to focus on what he was doing.

_You can do it Kayle. Let the Force flow through you. Use my strength. _Bastila's voice whispered in his mind, and he felt warmth within him.

_Bastila breathed life into her friend, using the Force to preserve his life through there bond._

Kayle stood, the Force flowing through him.

"Please - we're going to die if you don't stop the sequence!" He shouted.

"No..." The man backed away from the forcefield. "The Firaxa... the... the Selkath... I... I can't let you in. They'll get us!"

"I'll keep you safe. I promise." Kayle insisted. "But you have to let me in."

"I... I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to hurt anyone." The man walked to the side of the forcefield and deactivated it.

* * *

Zaalbar looked at Juhani as she sat at the bar sipping her Telosian wine.

"_Is something bothering you, Juhani?_" He asked.

The Cathar Jedi hissed. "My Cathar blood seethes at the thought of that man remaining alive. I cannot stand still while I think about it, but... but I will not give in to the dark side either." She sighed. "He will pay for his crimes, though. He will most likely be following us... me. If we could find him first, then he may not be able to set in motion whatever he has in store for us."

Zaalbar nodded. "_Catch the hunter in his own trap_." He said.

Juhani nodded, downing the rest of her wine. "Come, we should probably find Canderous and make our way back to the Ebon Hawk. Kayle and Bastila could return at any moment."

On their way back from the Cantina, Zaalbar, Juhani and Canderous were met by a young man claiming to need some help. Despite the bounty hunter act they were trying to maintain, they agreed to help him. The young man led them into one of the hangars down the row from the Ebon Hawk. Where they met the last person Juhani wanted to see.

"You!" She snarled, seeing the ugly purple Twi'lek stepped out from behind some crates.

"Get her, men, but remember: don't kill her!" As he said this, three men rushed out from behind more crates. Juhani snarled as the first came toward her. She raised her blasters and fired to quick shots. The man was dead before he hit the ground. She fired two more shots and the second was dead. She then pulled out her lightsaber.

"Wha-A Jedi?" Xor whispered, suddenly not quite as confident.

"Maybe." She said. "Or maybe I killed a Jedi and took this weapon from her!" She ignited the crimson blade.

Xor laughed. "Go ahead and kill me, Cathar worm, but I'll have the last laugh in the end!"

"What-What do you mean?" Juhani demanded. Xor gave another wheezing laugh.

"You may kill me here, today, but I had the pleasure of killing off your species!" The Twi'lek said. No one noticed the blaster he was powering up behind his back. "Not everyone who fought alongside the Mandalorians did it for their stupid concept of 'honour'. Some of us did it just for the pleasure: the pleasure of seeing your world burn."

"You…you animal!" Juhani snarled. "You monster!"

"And now I'm going to take your vengeance away from you." Xor pulled out the blaster. "You will die without it!"

A single shot was fired from his blaster.

* * *

Kayle looked up as the machinery self destructed. He noticed the giant Firaxa had moved away from him, no longer interested in him. He breathed a sigh of relief inside his environmental suit and made his way to the Star Map.

The three parts of the tripod separated, as the last three had, and a ball of light came from within it, revealing a spherical map of the galaxy. A spherical _incomplete_ map that is, but incomplete or no, Kayle scanned it into a datapad, and then turned around and began the trek back to the Hrakert Station.

When he got back in, he was met by Bastila and Carth, both of which were on edge.

"Something wrong?" Kayle asked.

"Someone's been watching us for the past half an hour." Carth whispered, barely moving his lips. "We're not sure who, but we know they're there."

Kayle nodded, his hand drifting toward his belt. His hand closed around the lightsaber as he heard the snap-hiss of a double lightsaber activating. Kayle ignited his own, the once emerald-green blade now an orange-gold.

"At last, my search is over! I was beginning to fear someone else had killed you and deprived me of the pleasure." Said a slimy voice. "You may have defeated the pathetic bounty hunter my Master sent after you, but you are no match for me! I have studied at the foot of the Dark Lord himself!"

Bastila ignited her own saberstaff, and two more blades ignited behind the Sith apprentice. Bastila ignored them. "You're Revan's apprentice, huh?" She said. "Can't say he has much taste."

"Your words mean nothing to me, young Bastila." Said the Sith apprentice. "I will have you know, you are about to be killed by Darth Taliat." He rushed forward, swinging his saberstaff in a blur of red light. Bastila Force jumped high over his blade, taking on the two Dark Jedi behind him, having the advantage of a more aggressive blade. Kayle met Darth Taliat, blade for blade, when he ignited a new lightsaber, one with a violet blade.

Bastila blocked each attack the Dark Jedi made, though that was about all she managed to do. It seemed Revan had chosen his two top Dark Jedi to send after Kayle and herself.

_Well I will not be beaten by these fools._ She thought. She tapped into her new-found power. Since the attack she'd made on the Sith woman's mind, she'd been able to use large amounts of Force power, perhaps enough to fight Revan himself.

She used that power and took hold of both of the Dark Jedi in a grip around their arms. Their lightsabers fell from their hands and deactivated, and their arms snapped to their sides. Bastila pulled both of their lightsabers into the air, and ignited them both. Darth Taliat turns just in time to see the lightsabers come spinning toward him before both impaled him.

He gasped for air as both his lungs were punctured. Bastila swung her own lightsaber and beheaded him. She did not like watching people suffer, even if they had just tried to kill her.

* * *

Juhani swung her lightsaber. The blaster bolt connected with it and shot back, hitting Xor in the chest. The Twi'lek stumbled back, taking wheezing breaths, and fell to his knees.

Juhani took a long, calming breath. "No! I cannot give in to my anger. I will not give him the satisfaction of making me that way." She told herself. Xor laughed, or coughed. It was hard to tell now that he was only breathing with one a quarter lungs.

"Worm!" He taunted. "I killed your people on Cathar in the sky, on the ground, in their homes. I hunted them down like the animals they were, just to see them burn. But the treacherous beasts fought back and left me with injuries that meant I could never fight again... or so they thought!"

"Stop it!" Juhani cried. "This isn't going to work!"

"I ended up in the Lower City of Taris, and what did I find? A few of those stinking beasts living there!" Xor continued. "The male was easy enough to best, but the females proved elusive. I didn't know what happened to them after I killed the male, until I saw this cursed woman on the auction block."

"But then the Jedi came and ruined everything before I could have my revenge..." He gave a rasping cough.

Juhani was shaking with barely contained anger. "You... You killed my father, you killed my people, you treat us like animals... You deserve to die!"

"Give in and embrace your hate, Cathar worm! You're no better than me! You're nothing!" Xor snarled.

"I…I…" Juhani shook with utter rage. She closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, they were filled with rage. "You... You will die for what you have done!"

She raised her hands, and unleashed a blast of Force lightning. Xor screamed in pain as the electricity surrounded him, snaking up his arms and legs. And just when he thought he could take no more, it ended.

He gave a triumphant laugh, and was cut off as Juhani beheaded him with her lightsaber. And she stabbed his body, and kept stabbing. Letting out the anger she had suppressed ever since becoming a Jedi. Finally, she stopped. Xor was nothing more then a mangled, burned and charred corpse.

Juhani sighed. Her family had been avenged, and she had given in to the Dark Side.

The Cathar woman turned in shame and walked out of the hangar bay. She didn't say a thing, and she didn't turn around. Neither Canderous nor Zaalbar followed her. They understood that she needed time and space. So they waited a few minutes before leaving.

* * *

Bastila and Kayle both felt the rage coming from above the ocean. It was a good thing Carth was the one driving the submersible, or they would probably have sent into a nose dive when they doubled over from the unexpected pain they felt.

"Juhani…" Bastila whispered.

Kayle went in search of Juhani as soon as they reached the surface. The Selkath arrested them about half hour after returning, and detained them for the rest of the day while Kayle explained what had happened. When they were finally set free, Kayle went in search of the darkest, dankest part of the Ahto City sewers, where he expected to find Juhani.

* * *

Juhani hissed as she sensed someoneapproaching. She had holed herself up in the corner, with a blanket over her shoulders. The fur on her face was matted with tears, of rage or grief, it didn't matter. The one who approached her would prey upon both of them to get what they wanted.

_I felt statisfaction taking revenge for my people like that... but... but I should not have let my anger consume me so. _Juhani thought to herself.

"You did the right thing." Juhani wasn't sure who said that.

_No I didn't._ She thought._ I let my anger and passions consume me and did something rash. Something which leads me down the path to the dark side. _

"I can help you contain it…" The voice whispered.

_How?_

"I have the power of the Dark Side and the Light Side." Said the voice. "I can manipulate both, I can help you. But first you must swear yourself to me!"

"I will. Anything to relieve myself of the anger." Juhani said out loud.

"You will still feel anger, Juhani. But only to the extent of those around you. You will no long feeling the battle rage of your people."

"Thankyou…" Juhani whispered.


	18. Chapter 17: Choices Made

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: Okay, the idea I had for this chapter (which I got after reading one of my favourite books) made it necessary to write from different characters, especially since I wanted to write in the first person again. So this chapter will come from both Bastila and Kayle.

Chapter 17: Choices Made

**_Bastila_**

I ignited my turquoise lightsaber, spinning it in a wide arc to deflect a volley of blaster fire coming from the dozen Sith Soldiers that had managed to board the Ebon Hawk without being shot down by Carth's blasters bolts.

Now Carth was unconscious, and Kayle and I were being pushed back further and further.

Allow me to elaborate your obvious confusion. At that moment we were stuck in the hangar bay of a Sith Interdictor Ship, having been pulled in by their tractor beam on our way to Korriban. And we were fighting a losing battle to try and give the rest of the crew a chance to hide or escape. Everyone had their own unique plan, revolving around whatever unique gift they possessed.

"Ha!" I raised my hand and fired a pulse of Force power down the corridor, knocking the front row of Sith Soldiers down. Kayle and I took advantage of the momentary recovery to push forward a little. It didn't last long, and we were soon backing down the corridors again.

Kayle was spinning his emerald-green lightsaber 'round and 'round in his hands, making it almost look like a disc instead of a single blade.

I turned, sensing a rush of the Force. Too late, I saw the giant blue rings sail across the room. The moment they touched me I was thrown into unconsciousness.

* * *

I opened my eyes slowly, a vision ending as I did. A vision I'd seen every time I closed my eyes to sleep, and a vision that ended only when I woke. I sighed, and sat up, groaning as I felt the after-effects of a stun ray. The human body just was not designed to have energy pulsed through it, and my body was pointing that out all-too-clearly.

"Bastila?" I looked over to my left and saw Kayle. Only then did I realize that we were in two separate Force cages. I looked over to my right and saw Carth, groggily getting to his feet.

"What happened?" He asked.

"You were stunned." I answered. "As were we."

"What's that noise?" Carth asked. I listened carefully and realized I could her the sound of blaster fire.

"That would be total and complete chaos being created outside our cell." Kayle answered. "More likely then not by a certain blue Twi'lek."

Carth chuckled despite the situation we were in. I chuckled as well, and reached out through the Force for Mission. She still had a lot to learn, but at least she showed no signs of falling to the Dark Side. In fact, she was drawing heavily on the light side.

"She will make a fine Consular one day." I thought out-loud. Kayle looked over, and I shook my head. "Nevermind." I said.

He nodded, and at that moment, the cell door burst open, revealing a cranky old man, an exited Twi'lek and one ticked-off wookie.

"Oh, good, we found you." Mission said. She walked over to the control panel and shut down the power to the Force cages.

"How long has it been?" I asked, getting to my feet. I suddenly realized I had been stripped down to my under garments, and upon looking around saw that Kayle and Carth had as well.

"About twelve hours." Jolee said. "We spent the first six hours regrouping, then we spent the next three hours trying to find the detention block. We only just broke through the blast door."

I nodded. "Very well." I turned to Mission. "Can you upload the layout of the ship from that console?" I asked. Mission nodded.

"No problem." She said, tapping a few buttons. "There, no problem at all." She said. Kayle, Carth and I all walked over and examined the map.

"They'll have the hangar bay door sealed." Carth said. "And in most ships this size, the hangar bay can only be accessed from the Bridge."

"Wonderful." Kayle said sarcastically.

"Which means we'll have to get to the Bridge in order to escape." I said. Carth nodded.

"Okay, we need a plan." Kayle said.

"Surprise and secrecy will serve us best." I said. "A small group might have a better chance of sneaking onto the Bridge undetected while the others make their way down to the Ebon Hawk."

"May I suggest that the team consist of Jedi?" Juhani said. "This is, after all, Revan's ship, and is likely to be crawling with Dark Jedi." Kayle nodded.

"You're right." He said. "Okay, Bastila, Juhani, you come with me." He turned to Canderous and Carth. "I'm counting on you two to get the rest of the crew to the Ebon Hawk and prepping her for take off. We'll signal you when we deactivate the lock on the bay doors."

Canderous and Carth both nodded.

"Good. Get to the equipment room, grab what you need, and get going." Kayle said. They nodded again, and turned and led their team into the equipment room. After they left, Kayle led Juhani and I in.

Kayle and I both grabbed our lightsabers and our robes, and quickly got dressed. I also grabbed a datapad I'd recorded earlier that day, not long before we had left Manaan. I turned to look at Kayle.

"Kayle…" I took a step toward him, and handed him the datapad. "Don't activate here." I said. "Wait til we are back on the Ebon Hawk."

"Why not give it to me then?" He asked.

"Because, I almost forgot it once." I said. "I don't want to forget it again."

Kayle nodded, accepting my story, andslipped the datapad into a pocket of his robes. "Okay, let's go." He said. He led us down a different corridor then the one the others went down, and we got the elevator within five minutes.

And in my heart, I knew that the time of lies was coming to a close.

* * *

**_Kayle_**

I ignited my lightsaber as the elevator opened, as did Bastila and Juhani. Lucky we did, too, because as soon as the door was opened about a half a dozen Dark Jedi poured into the elevator.

With a flick of her hand, Bastila sent all of them flying back out. We then exited the elevator and began the unpleasant task of killing them all. It was not easy, and it took far too long considering we had no idea if Revan actually was on the ship or not.

Finally, all the Dark Jedi were dead. We were about to continue down the corridor in the direction we hoped would lead us to the Bridge, when Bastila suddenly clutched her chest.

"Revan…he knows we're here." She gasped. "And I think he's on the ship somewhere." She fell to her knees, her lightsaber clattering the floor. Juhani and I were by her side in an instant. "I think…I think he's trying to find sense us." Her eyes widened. "What if he sense's Jolee and Mission? We would barely stand a chance against Revan together. Those two on their own would be like a Gamorrean against a Rancor."

I thought on what she had said, and an idea came to me. "Then we won't let him sense them." I said. "Bastila, I need you to open yourself up to the Force as much as you can, make sure Revan knows which group he's going for."

Bastila nodded, and I gave her my hand, helping her back to her feet. I sensed her open up to the Force and the Living Force. My eyes widened as I sensed and almost saw more and more power gathering around her.

I gaped at the amount of power. "Well, Revan would have to be completely blind to the Force not to sense that." I said.

Bastila smiled, and we continued our way through the corridors. After two more incidents with Dark Jedi, and one Dark Jedi Master, we finally got to the door between us and the Bridge.

"It's locked!" Bastila exclaimed. I typed ina few codes I'd gotten when Mission had hacked into the system. Bastila was right, the blast door was completely sealed off from this side.

I sighed in frustration. "Okay, through the airlock then." I said. "And be on your guard. We don't want another Dark Jedi Master sneaking up on us."

Bastila and Juhani nodded in agreement. We turned around and went in search of the armoury, where I hoped to find a set of space suits we could use to go through the airlock.

Thankfully, we found some. We quickly grabbed three of the cumbersome suits, and ran through the corridors to the airlock doors. Pulling on our space suits, we passed through the airlock with little trouble.

The ten minute walked between the two airlock doors was uneventful, unless you counted seeing a meteor hurl past the ship. We passed through the second airlock, and found ourself in a sealed off room. We removed our space suits and dropped them in a corner of them room.

Then, igniting my lightsaber, I opened the blast door in front of us. I heard several more lightsabers igniting, some behind me, some in front of my. Bastila, Juhani and I rushed into the room, lightsabers spinning and slashing and striking and parrying against the Dark Jedi and Sith Soldiers we met in the two adjoining rooms.

When the battle was over, we took a moment to recover.

"He's in their." I said to Bastila. It wasn't a question.

She nodded. "And he knows we're here as well." She said. "He must be waiting for us to make the first move."

I nodded, and we stepped forward, opening the blast door between us and Revan.

At the end of the Bridge, looking out at the vast emptiness of space, stood Darth Revan, his back to us. But he knew we were there. He had to, we were all gathering some much of the Force around us that someone would have to blind, deaf and mute as well as Force-blind to not sense us.

As one we leapt forward, lightsabers blazing to life again, with the intention of crippling Revan with an unexpected attack.

In one quick motion, Revan was facing us, raising his hand and calling upon a small amount of the Force compared to us. And all three of us were sent hurtling backward, crashing to the floor.

He laughed as he stepped forward, a lightsaber sliding down the sleeve of his black robes as he approached. His hood was up, and he was wearing that demonic looking mask he had been wearing the day of my Padawan trials.

"So, for four months I chase you from planet to planet, always just missing you, or else finding the dead remains of one of my servants I sent after you." He said. "And suddenly you start chasing me, the Force truly is gracious."

Faster then I would have thought possible, Juhani was on her feet, lightsaber ignited. She leapt through the air, making a quick slashing movement at Revan. The Sith Lord barely had to gesture and Juhani was sent sailing through the air, crashing head first into the wall and sliding down to the floor unconscious.

"Foolish girl." Revan sneered. He turned back to Bastila and I, though I was sure his eyes were on me. And I sensed…recognition. "No…it can't be. I can hardly believe my eyes..."

Before he could say another thing, Bastila was on her feet. She was not foolish enough to use her lightsaber. She wrapped herself in the Force, sealing out everything else, and thrust her hand forward, palm facing Revan.

Revan, despite the fact the he seemed to have expected the attack, only just managed to fend it off, raising his own hand and unleashing his own Force wave. Both waves hit between the Jedi Padawan and the Sith Lord, and bounced back to where they had come from.

Bastila was thrown backwards into the air, flipping once, and colliding with the wall, sliding down out of sight into the lower part of the Bridge were all the consoles were.

"Bastila?" No answer. I turned back to Revan, the green blade of my lightsaber erupting from the end of the hilt. I rushed forward, striking Revan with a flurry of split second attacks, parrying each blow he made. It wasn't skill that was keeping me going; it was anger.

He backed away, trying to get in a decent attack as I struck ruthlessly again and again, not letting a moment of chance for him to turn the tide of the battle.

And then, with a sudden and unexpected attack to my lightsaber instead of me, my lightsaber was gone, clattering across the Bridge and down to where Bastila lay. There was a searing pain in my arm for about a split second, and then all I felt there was numb. Revan raised a hand, and pushed me back with the Force.

"Fool!" He said. "Did you really think a mere Padawan could defeat me, a fully-trained Sith Lord?" He was walking toward me now, slowly, taking his time.

I tried to reach out with the Force, to summon my lightsaber into my hand. Only then did I realize why my arm had gone numb: there was no arm.

I groaned. There was no chance of me stopping Revan now, not with only one arm.

* * *

**_Bastila_**

Wiping blood from my mouth, I managed to pull myself up into a crouching position. My eyes widened when I heard laughter, from Revan, and then screaming from Kayle. I saw a glint of a cylindrical shape; a lightsaber. I didn't care who's it was, I wrapped my hand around it and pushed myself unsteadily to my feet.

I staggered to the small staircase that was my only way back up onto the main deck of the bridge. My finger rested on the activation panel of the lightsaber I held, and I looked over the edge of the deck.

The sight that met me hit me like a blow. The scene that was playing out before me was the one that had haunted my every sleeping moment since leaving Dantooine.

Revan, standing their laughing like a maniac as sharp bolts of violet electricity blasted from his hands, snaking around Kayle as he cried out in pain and anger. Despite myself, my eyes darted to where Juhani lay. She was struggling to her feet just outside the Bridge. Our eyes met, and she nodded. She knew what she had to do.

Revan neither sensed nor saw either of us. His focus was purely on destroying Kayle…on destroying Malak. For a moment, I felt a small bubble of hope, but I quickly suppressed it. I could not allow myself the luxury of hope right now.

With a deep sigh of acceptance, I ignited the lightsaber, the bright green blade erupting from the end.

"Revan!" I shouted. The vision had played itself out, he turned to me, and the lightning stopped. _Now! _A voice in my mind said.

I rushed forward, Kayle's lightsaber a blur as I struck again and again. I did not expect to live, so I did not care what I did. So long as Kayle escape, I would be at peace when I died. And so I gave into my anger. The anger at Revan for what he'd done over the past years. The anger at Erik/Revan formaking me give intomy emotions back on the Ebon Hawk.The anger at the Jedi for taking me from my mother and my father. And the anger the Council, for thinking they had the right to mess with someone's mind and make him someone they could control.

Revan was obviously shocked by the ferocity of my attacks, and was barely able to parry the blows. I struck at him, again and again and again, long suppressed anger bubbling to the surface. Compared to the anger I felt now, the anger I had felt back on Kashyyyk and Tatooine had been a mere trickle.

But, minute by minute, my anger waned, and my attacks weakened, and my body tired. I could not keep it up for much longer.

_Please, let them be away from here. _I begged to the Force. _Please let him be safe._

With that final thought, the last of my anger was gone. My attacks stopped, I let go, and Revan struck.


	19. Chapter 18: Revelations

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: The only other chapter that will be told (at least partially) by Kayle. After this chapter, only Bastila and Revan will be telling the stories.

Chapter 18: Revelations

Bastila

"Argh." I cried out in pain as yet another storm of Force lightning coursed through my body. I was chained to a large slab of stone, unable to move an inch, and unable to touch the Force.

When I had first woken up here, I felt like my nightmares had all caved in on top of me. There had been six Dark Jedi surrounding me, all of them with a terrifying hunger in their eyes. I may not have been as terrified if I hadn't found myself blocked from the Force, unable to sense or touch it. It was like being five years old again, when my training under Master Zhar had begun.

The following few hours had been the most horrifying and sickening hours of my life. Unable to fight back, stuck in a preserved consciousness by the Force, I could do nothing but cry and hope that they left me alone soon.

Revan had been even more terrifying when he had learned of what they had done. First, he had murdered each and every one of them in different ways in front of me. Then he had spent the following three hours forcing me to relive my worst fears by using a horrid power of the Dark Side, to vent his frustrations.

I shook my head, trying to rid myself of those horrifying thoughts. I wanted to forget that first day. But at that very moment, I also wanted to die, and neither looked like they were going to happen anytime soon.

I opened my eyes and stared defiantly into the cold grey eyes of Darth Revan, the only part of his body visible now that he was wearing only a half-mask, hiding his face from his nose down. I'm sure he was smiling under that mask as he released another electrical attack.

I cried out again; you would think that after three days of almost non-stop lightning coursing through your body, you would eventually stop feeling, or die. Unfortunately, Revan was making sure the attacks were not lethal.

I say unfortunately because after three days straight of lightning coursing through your body, death begins to seem very welcoming. It would be a release from the seemingly endless tortures I had had to endure from Revan over the past three days.

I snarled at him. "You think torture will turn me, Revan?" I sneered. "You are more a fool then I thought."

Revan laughed, that horrid, synthesized laugh that manipulated his voice. "Torture? No, my dear." Revan came closer, so we were face-to-face. "You misunderstand. This is but a taste of what the dark side is. It calls to you, I can see it. You are tempted to use it against me." He laughed again. "You know it is the only thing that can save you from my torment. And yet you hide from it."

"I'm not the one who is hiding, Revan." I said, smirking. Revan's eyes narrowed for a moment, as if trying to read my face. He laughed again.

"My mask?" He asked. "I wear it so you do not have to look upon a face you once recognized."

"I'd much prefer to see the face of my killer." I said.

"Oh?" Revan was smirking underneath the half-mask. I could see it in his eyes. "I have no intention of killing you, my dear. But, perhaps what you say is true. Malak saw my face before swearing himself to me. But I warn you, I have changed greatly since you last saw me."

He reached up, and pulled away the mask, and lowered the hood. A gasp escaped me as I looked upon the face of Darth Revan.

Kayle

I slowly opened my eyes. Where was I?

And then all the memories flooded back. Being captured by Revan's Ship. Getting to the Bridge of the ship to open the hangar bay doors. Being met by Revan. The battle, and then…

My eyes widened when that last memory came back.

Bastila climbing back up onto the main deck and attacking Revan, and Juhani pulling away, helping me to get away while Bastila fought Revan.

My eyes widened when I realized what had happened. As I did, I noticed a glint of steel by my side. He looked down, and saw what looked like a skeleton bones of an arm – except they were made out of some kind of metal. I flexed the fingers for a moment, confirming that it was mine. Then I stood up.

I suddenly realized that I wasn't on the Ebon Hawk. No wonder, there was nothing on the Ebon Hawk that would have made my new arm, nor was there anyone with the skill to do it.

I looked over and saw Juhani asleep in a chair beside the bed, and T3-M4 active beside her.

I also noticed the datapad Bastila had given me on the table beside the bed. Sighing, I decided to wait a moment before waking Juhani, and got back into the bed, taking the datapad and giving it to T3.

"Activate it, please." I said. T3 beeped, and an image of Bastila appeared in front of me.

Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be pained or saddened by something. She opened her eyes and looked sadly at me.

"_Kayle…this data-recording will begin to erase itself as soon as you activate it, a small program I had T3 add to it._" My eyes drifted to T3 for a moment, then back to Bastila. "_For that reason, I hope you pay attention to what I'm about to say. First, if you are seeing this, then events aboard Revan's ship have played out as I had hoped…_"

At that I gasped. She had known. She had known this would happen, and she had still come with us to the Bridge of that damn ship! Damnit, why hadn't I stopped her?

"_Kayle, this was not your fault, as I know you believe it is. I made a choice to come with you. I made it because I knew I had to, because this was not the only path set before us on Revan's ship._" At this, she gave a long sigh. "_From the day we left Dantooine, I have known that the day would come when he left Manaan, having faced a Hunter, a Beast and a Killer._" Calo Nord, the Krayt Dragon, Darth Taliat. "_And we would be captured by Darth Revan. When that happened, one of three events would take place depending on what I chose to do._

"_Down one path, Revan killed both you and Juhani, and took me as his apprentice. Down another, he told you what I'm about to tell you myself…you gave into your anger and your hate, you attacked him and he killed you, and then he killed both Juhani and I._" She sighed again. "Please know this Kayle: I never meant for you to get hurt. But I also do not believe that none of this was my fault. I should have told you this the day we left Dantooine." The next three words would stay in my mind for the rest of my life: "_You are Malak…_"

Bastila

"No…it can't be…" I whispered.

"Can't it?" Revan smiled cruelly as I saw _her_ face. Zora Firemoon…Revan… How could it be her? "You Jedi are all _so_ gullible." She smirked, and I got the feeling I was in for a story. Zora…Revan began pacing slowly around the room, smiling as if recalling a happy memory.

"It all started not long after Malak rained destruction upon Telos. Oh yes, that wasn't my doing." She added when she saw the look on my face. "I had told him to conquer it, not obliterate it – Telos had valuable recourses." She frowned. "Well, obviously, I had to give him a suitable punishment, so I…"

Revan

_Malak fell to his knees, and then face forward onto the floor of the Bridge, making not a sound except for an occasional groan._

_"Let that be a lesson to you Malak." I snarled from behind my mask. "Don't you ever – betray me – again!" The burnt remains of his lower jaw (a lightsaber was such a fabulous weapon) lay not far ahead of Malak. "And let that be a lesson to you all – betrayal is not taken lightly among the Sith!"_

_I stepped over Malak's unmoving body as I left the Bridge. "Get him to the Infirmary, let them deal with the mess." I added as I left._

_He would not get what he had wished for. I would save myself for another, and it would not be him._

Bastila

"You were going to…? With him?" I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

"Well, he _was_ a childhood friend. Emphasis on was." Revan said. "We had grown closer during the war, up until the Telos incident. But he had crossed a line – it's one thing to destroy, say, a small city as an example. But to wipe away an entire planet? That's just going too far!"

"And of course, Malak didn't seem to think that his crime had not earned him such a gruesome such a punishment, so he began plotting revenge." Revan laughed as if she found the subject funny. "I wouldn't have found out about it quicker if he had come up to me and shouted at me that he was plotting to take over _my_ empire!"

"I would hardly call a fleet of cowards in a few dozen star destroyers, an empire." I said.

Revan shrugged. "In more recent times, after I'd learned about Malak's plans, I began making some plans of my own." She said. "First, I would need a decoy. If Malak was going to fire on my ship during that battle, some poor pathetic being would need to be there in my place. So I used the Force to take control of one of my Jedi prisoners-turned-Dark Jedi, a young Padawan named Zora Firemoon, would take my place on the Bridge."

Revan

_"My Lady, the fleet is in position." The admiral said proudly. I frowned. He was getting a little too ambitious – he would have to go. But for now…_

_"Very good, admiral." I said. "Dark Jedi Firemoon is on board my ship, as per my orders. The Battle Meditation girl, Bastila Shan, she'll be there. Now let's see if she's as good as she's been made out to be."_

_We watched over a view screen as she approached my decoy, and ignited her lightsaber. She tore through what little of my honour guard I'd permitted Zora to have, and then said something to Revan. Then I saw the Leviathan power up its torpedo bay._

_"I don't think so Malak." I said. I waved a hand and the proton torpedos that Malak had fired became frozen in stasis. I turned back to the view screen. "That little bitch, she's trying to kill her!" I snapped. My decoy seemed to have taken on a mind of her own and had attacked Bastila. _

_"We'll see about this." I whispered. Separating my focus two ways, I released the proton torpedos, and at the same time I created a Force shield around Bastila. The torpedos hit, the ship rocked, and I saw my decoy consumed by the electrical blast form the power conduit exploded behind her, and killing everyone in the Bridge except Bastila. Smirking, I handed two data-disks to the admiral. "See that this one is transmitted to the Jedi's ship, and that this one is transmitted to Malak's ship. Let me know as soon as it is done."_

_"Of course, milady." The admiral said, and he set about doing it immediately. I walked out of the Bridge. There was a score I had to settle with Malak for what he'd done to the supposed me._

_I went straight to our own torpedo bay, and had a quick conversation with the two men working there. As soon as the admiral gave me the words that he'd sent the messages, I nodded, and they emptied our missile bay out into space, aiming all of the torpedos at the Leviathan._

Bastila

"And so, Malak was no more." Revan continued. "Or so I thought." She seemed annoyed. "I infiltrated the Jedi, assuming the identity of my decoy, Zora Firemoon. Almost no one knew what she actually looked like, so it was easy to do so.

"Imagine my surprise when, by chance, I passed the infirmary and found Malak suspended in a Kolto tank!" She snapped at me. "I couldn't attempt to kill him then and there, so the following night, I took out my battle-robes and mask, and went to the infirmary."

My thoughts drifted back to that night in the infirmary when I'd seen her try to kill Kayle/Malak.

Revan

_I looked up at Malak's suspended, comatose form, and smirked. "I warned you," I whispered. "Betrayal is not tolerated, Malak." I noticed the Jedi had somehow managed to grow back his lower jaw – that must've been painful. I was happy about that. I turned and walked over to the Kolto controls, and tapped a few buttons._

_The kolto supply to Malak's tank stopped flowing, and his body started to shudder. I was just getting ready to eject him from the tank when I sensed the presence of someone approaching. I turned, and my eyes locked onto the sky-blue eyes of Bastila Shan._

_I raised my hand, curling my fingers as if taking hold of something. Through the Force, I was taking hold of something – her throat. I held on for a few seconds, before remembering I needed her. Sighing, I released her, and threw her backward out of the infirmary and crashing into the wall across from the door. I then ignited my lightsaber._

_I took a few steps toward Bastila, and then my focus drifted to the snap-hiss of another lightsaber igniting. My focus turned to the Jedi Knight carrying the emerald green lightsaber, and I smirked. I may not have gotten Malak that night, but at least I would get to kill someone._

_I sped forward, propelled by the Force, and slashed the Knight across her chest, then stabbed my lightsaber into his stomach. She barely had time to fight back._

_I shook my head – Jedi were just too easy to beat these days. So much for a decent kill._

_I quickly discarded and hid away my battle robes, and then rushed to the side of the fallen Knight. From what I remembered, she was the mentor of the real Zora Firemoon – perfect, a Master and Apprentice often shared a bond through the Force. I would claim to have been woken by the Bond signifying the death of my Master._

_I ran down the hall, and heard more Jedi coming I made myself look like I had just come out of one of the many Padawan quarters, and sprinted down the hall._

Bastila

"You killed her?" I asked.

Revan nodded proudly. "I was being honest with you in the escape pod during our rather rushed escape from the Endar Spire. If I ever get my hands on the incompetent admiral who ordered that attack, I'll tear him limb from limb and feed him to my Rancor!" She was annoyed again. I braced myself, and sure enough, Revan fired a quick blast of electricity at me.

"Stop fighting me, Bastila." Revan said seductively. "Give into the Dark Side. Give into it's call, and feel the true power of the Force!"

"Never!" I spat.

Snarling, Revan raised her hands and released of storm of lightning at me. "I can see into your heart Bastila." She said. "You want to give into it. You want to use its power to punish me like I've been punishing you. Do it!" I shook my head, sobbing uncontrollably. Not because of the pain – because she was right. I wanted to give in, at least a small part of me did. I wanted to hurt her, for hurting me.

"No…no, I…" Was all I could manage before I mercifully passed out.

* * *

I woke up, eyes wide and looking around wildly. I was on the floor, no longer chained to the large slab of stone, and I could see a small tray of food not far from the door of my cell. 

Sighing, I crawled weakly over to the tray, and hungrily ate the pitiful pieces of meat and the stale piece of bread, and gulped down the foul tasting liquid that had been left for me.

Even hungrier then before I'd eaten anything, I crawled back over to where I'd woken up, curled into a tight ball, and tried to get back to sleep.

But I was woken what seemed like only moments later as another wave of Force lightning coursed through my body and lifted me into the air.

"The best time to attack someone, if you want to break them," Revan said. "Is when they're down and unexpecting." The lightning stopped and I crashed to the floor, hurt and confused for a moment about what was happening. Then it all came flooding back to me, and I small whimper of despair escaped my lips.

"Do you remember Erik?" Revan asked. "You wanted to give into your emotions with him as well, didn't you? Did you know he was never actually attracted to you?"

"You're lying!" I said. I don't know why I said it – I don't know why I wanted to believe he had loved me.

"Am I?" Revan asked. "He was sent with you by the Jedi Council, as a test, if you will, to see if you could resist the temptation. A pawn, just like Malak, just like you."

"No…you're wrong." I said dejectedly.

"No, I'm not." Revan said. "The Council used you, exploited the Bond between Malak and yourself to try and find the Star Forge. I know what they told you Bastila. That you had a destiny before you, that you could do great things with your power."

"I…I…" I couldn't deny what she was saying. They had told me that.

"Well, I got told the same thing. So did Malak, so do all other Jedi in the beginning." She shook her head in disgust. "'You have great power, Revan.' They said. 'You will do great things with your life.' Ha! Every word they say is a lie!"

She took a step toward me, and I tried to back away. "Break away from the Jedi, Bastila!" She whispered. "You _can_ do great things, that much is true, but to do it, you must use the Force as it was meant to be used – without the restrictions of the Jedi."

"I will not give in to the Dark Side!" I snapped.

"Light side, Dark side!" Revan held both hands out in front of her. In one, a bright white light gathered, in the other, a swirling black mist.

"What…?" I have to admit, I was intrigued by what she was done.

"Nothing more then speeding up molecules to create light," She nodded to her left hand, where the light was. "And expelling the light from the air to create darkness. Now, watch what happens." She brought her hands together, cupped in front of her. The mist swirled around the bright lights, but nothing more happened. "Notice, neither is conflicting with the other, they are exact opposites, and yet two sides of the same substance.

"The Force is the same." Revan said. "The Jedi would tell you the Dark Side is evil, that it is to be feared. But the Dark side is no less dangerous then the Light side." Both the light and the mist faded. "Did you know that many see the Jedi and the Sith the same way. Two different names for exactly the same thing."

"Then they are fools." I said.

"In that, I agree with you." Revan said. "The Jedi seek knowledge and wisdom from the Force. But knowledge can only be gained by understanding the whole, not merely the easy."

"The Light side is not easy-" I started.

"And you think the Dark side is?" Revan demanded. "The Light side is very easy compared to the Dark side. It is a constant struggle for control, never ending." She smirked. "'Harmony erodes us; it is conflict that strengthens us' my old Master once said that."

And with that, another wave of lightning was thrown at me. I screamed in pain, for what seemed like hours. It was a merciful relief when I once again lost consciousness.

Bastila/Vision

_"Sorry, Uthar... I'm with Yuthura on this one." I said._

_"Do you hear that, my master?" Yuthura asked, her lekku's twitching with excitement. "That is the sound of a new leader rising to replace you."_

_"So the time has come, has it?" Uthar did not seem surprised at all at the outcome. "You both wish to stand against a Sith Master and perish, do you? THEN SO BE IT!" He ignited his double-bladed lightsaber, the crimson blades shooting from both ends. Yuthura ignited her single lightsaber, while I ignited the Sith Lightsaber I had gotten._

_I attacked with aggressiveness and raw power, again and again I struck, Uthar was unprepared for such ferocity from a mere 'student' and was quickly forced onto the defensive by Yuthura and I. Within moments, it was over._

_"Uthar is finished, and a new order is brought to the academy." Yuthura laughed, an exhilarated smile on her face. Then she turned to me, and smiled evilly. "While I do like you... truly... I'm afraid I'm not the type to share power with anyone. Even you."_

_"Typical. I knew this was coming." I said, igniting the Sith Lightsaber again, smirking. This would be fun. "_

_"I... I did tell you there was no such thing as friends among the Sith, didn't I?" Yuthura said apologetically. "Let's get this over with."_

_She leapt forward, igniting a second lightsaber in her left hand, and attacking with the same ferocity the two of us had used against Uthar just seconds ago. As soon as she was within range, I ignited a lightsaber I'd smuggled into the tomb with me, it slid down my sleeve, and the crimson blade erupted from the hilt, blocking both of her lightsabers, and I swung the Sith Lightsaber around to decapitate her._

_She blocked the attack with barely a second to spare, spun around and made another attack with her offhand lightsaber. I blocked that with the Sith Lightsaber and slashed at her side with my own. The attack grazed her, and she back away, discarding the burning black cloak of her robe._

_We circled each other, both of us waiting for the other to make the first move. Finally, she stepped forward, swinging her lightsaber toward me. I blocked, pushing my lightsaber harder and harder._

_In one fluid motion, I pushed her backwards, my lightsaber cutting across the side of her arm, and the Sith Lightsaber grazing her left leg._

_She gasped in pain and staggered back, dropping both lightsabers to the ground. "Stop! I... I yield!" She gasped. "You are... too strong for me. I was a fool to think otherwise. I am... at your mercy." She fell to her knees, bowing her head in shame._

_I looked down at her, and a thought crossed my mind. "Yes…you could be of use to me." She looked up at me, shocked. "Know that this is not mercy, but I will need someone to take care of the Academy after I have killed my old Master." I said, helping her to her feet._

_"Of course, but…" She stopped, suddenly realizing what I had said. "Old master?" She fell to one knee. "Lord Malak, forgive me, I did not know it was you."_

_"Rise, or I will…"_

Bastila

I woke slowly, the vision ending. So Kayle had the final Star Map? I thanked the Force, he was on his way. On his way to save me, and…

And then I realized just what I had felt in that vision. Darkness, corruption, anger. And I realized what had happened: Malak had fallen to the Dark side.


	20. Chapter 19: The Rise of Darth Veran

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: My apologies if Bastila's fall seems unrealistic, I'm not very good at personal things such as above mentioned fall.

Chapter 19: The Rise of Darth Veran

Bastila

I cried for hours after my realization. If Kayle had fallen to the Dark side, what use was he? How would he rescue me from the Sith if he had joined them? Oh, I felt so angry at him.

Maybe Revan was right… was I really hiding from what was rightfully mine? And were the Jedi really using me?

I looked at the facts…all through the war, I had used my Battle Meditation in battle after battle. The Council had thanked me, and yet… and yet something seemed to be missing. There was something I wasn't seeing, something about the Council. The battles would come, the Republic would send for help, the Council would send me with a small group of Jedi, and…

And the last piece clicked into place: the Council never joined us, except in that last battle when we had captured Malak. And even then, they hung back in their safe star destroyer while I risked my life for what turned out to be a decoy.

I felt resentment rising in me. Revan was right; they _had_ used me… I had been nothing but a weapon to them! A tool to exploit in their battles!

A dam broke inside me, and everything – and I mean everything – that I had ever held back, suppressed or hidden came pouring out in a fit a rage, tears and screaming. I gave into it, let it consume me, I didn't want to feel anymore – my entire life I had been living a lie. Helping others when really the only people I'd been helping were a line of old fools in robes.

I lashed out; firing bolts of electricity around the room, not even realizing I was touching the Force again. The stone slab that had held me down and allowed me to be tortured, it was the first target of my anger. I fired wave after wave of Force lightning at it, until it was a few charred pieces of rubble. And then I turned my attacks to the room itself, just letting my anger feed my power. Anything that wasn't resistant to electricity of rock-solid was torn apart or burned to a cinder, nothing remained but the room itself and the cell door by the time I fell into an exhausted slumber.

"It's time, Bastila." I opened my eyes slowly to the voice.

"Leave me alone!" I snapped.

"No, I don't think I will." I heard Revan fire a blast of Force lightning at me. I was on my feet in an instant, hand raised. I caught the lightning in my hand, and fired back at Revan, fuelling it with my anger toward Revan for the merciless tortures she had dealt me.

She caught the lightning like I had, except instead of deflecting it back to me, she smirked, and closed her hand around it, extinguishing it. "I'm impressed." She said, with genuine respect in her eyes. "Even with the Dark side, few have been able to do that." She smirked. "I take it you are ready?"

I looked at the other woman. A part of me was screaming out that she had spent the last however many days making my life hell. Another part was saying that, if not for Revan, my eyes never would have been opened to the lies of the Jedi Council.

"I have one question." I said. Revan looked at me strangely, but nodded.

"Very well, ask." She said.

"Was your love for Carth genuine, or was he another pawn on your dejarik board?" I asked.

Her eyes seemed to grow distant for a moment. "I never would have expected it to happen." She said. "That morning, when I woke up next to him…I could almost believe all the lies I had spread. I was just a Jedi Padawan who had fallen in love with a man. Amidst all the lies, that was the one truth. Something I'd sworn never again to do by the way."

"You swore never to fall in love?" I asked curiously. Revan gave me a searching look.

"No." She said. "I swore I'd never touch a man in that way again after what Malak pulled." She said. Now, when I was a Jedi that might have bothered me. But it didn't now.

I nodded, and I dropped to one knee, bowing my head.

"I am ready now," I said. "I swear myself, in life and after death, on till you release me, to you, my Lady Revan."

Revan nodded, but had a look of only half-satisfaction on her face. "Good, you have passed the first part of my test." She said. "But saying words, and proving loyalty, are two very different things. Follow me." She turned, completely certain I would follow, and walked out of the cell. I followed.

"Before I fully accept you as my apprentice, you must prove that you truly have broken all ties to your old allies." Revan said. She opened another cell door, and took something from the pocket of her Dark Jedi robes, handing it to me. I looked down at the object: a lightsaber.

"Go in, you will find the final half of your test inside." She said. I nodded, stepping through the door. Revan sealed it off behind me.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dark, but when I did, I wished they hadn't.

Lying on the floor in front of me, barely conscious and very badly injured, was Erik. For a moment, I faltered. But then I remembered what Revan had said 'He was sent with you by the Jedi Council, as a test, if you will, to see if you could resist the temptation' and any mercy I may have given him was quashed.

"Bast…Bastila- argh!" I cried out in pain as I unleashed a storm of Force lightning on him. He toyed with my emotions, on orders of those old fools. He deserved what he was getting. His death would not be a merciful, painless death. He would suffer before dying – I would make him suffer, just like Revan had made me suffer.

For the next half an hour, I test my new Force abilities out on Erik: lightning, strangulation, plague, and finally, death field, killing him and rejuvenating my strength.

I smirked down at the charred corpse of my former lover. A small part of me was disgusted at what I'd done. I brushed that small part away. "That chapter of Bastila Shan has come to a close." I said to myself.

"Indeed it has." Revan said. I spun around. She was obviously impressed by what I'd done. She nodded approvingly. "You are no longer simply Bastila Shan. Henceforth, you shall be known to your followers as Darth…" She seemed to consider for a moment. "Veran!"

I bowed my head, filled with an odd sort of pride. "Thankyou, my master." I whispered.

Almost a week passed as we prepared for Malak's arrival. I told my new master of the vision I had. She told me she knew of the happenings on Korriban. She had made sure Yuthura got on Malak's good side – Yuthura was far easier to control the Uthar was, so Revan had made sure Kayle had spared her, thinking he was getting a new ally.

Finally, they arrived in the Rakatan system. I watched from the observation deck on the Star Forge as the Ebon Hawk flew into the disruptor field around the Star Forge, and made an unceremonious crash-landing on the Rakatan Homeworld.

"It is time." Revan said behind me. "Go to the Rakatan temple. It is there that you will face your old friend…and my traitorous apprentice."

"Of course, my Master." I said. I left the observation deck, ready to go and face Malak, and end the war against the Republic once and for all. With his death would come the death of the last chance the Republic had.


	21. Chapter 20: The Shadow's Gather

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: And now, my storyline will take a turn away from the game, after following it for so long (or maybe I haven't been…but I haven't been able to tell much difference between the two).

Chapter 20: The Shadows Gather

Revan

I watched as Bastila left the observation deck, heading to one of the hangar bays. I had no doubt that, in the end, she would defeat Malak. But while she faced him in the Rakatan temple, there was some business with the Ebon Hawk that I had to deal with.

I turned and left the observation deck, taking out my communicator. "Admiral, I need you to prepare a fighter for me to take down to Rakata." I said into it. A moment later, a voice came through.

"_Of course, my Lady._" The admiral said. "_The Star Forge has just finished materializing a brand new fighter for you: the Star Pearl._" I rolled my eyes; who came up with these names?

Into the communicator, I said, "Well done, admiral. I will be there momentarily." I took in a deep, meant-to-calm-but-didn't breath. It seemed my anger at Malak had not cooled since nearly killing him on my old ship. I needed to vent some of it out on something. Or someone, I thought as I got to the hangar bay, opening the blast doors, and saw the admiral.

"Ah, my Lady Rev-" He made choking sound as I closed a Force grip around his throat. It always felt good to let my anger out through the Force. And I always felt so revitalized after killing someone.

Smiling, I Force-jumped up into my new fighter, and prepped it for take-off. Before leaving, I activated a com-screen, and a middle-aged man with very little hair and a goatee appeared on the screen. I never liked men with goatees, but seeing as how my old admiral was dead…well, sacrifices must be made in war.

"You would be Captain Seero?" I asked. He nodded fearfully, obviously aware of how I dealt with failure. I wondered if he had failed at doing something, and decided to check out his history later. "There's some garbage in my private hangar, I need it removed, _Admiral_ Seero." I said. "I'm going down to the Rakatan world for a few hours. Let me know if we have any trouble up here." I added.

"Of course, milady." The new admiral said. I cut the transmission, powered up the Star Pearl, and prepared to leave the Star Forge.

Bastila

I landed atop the Temple of the Ancients, where Revan had told me Malak would have to come if he wanted to deactivate the disruptor field surrounding the Star Forge and the Rakatan Homeworld. I prepared myself, slipping into a meditation as I waited, touching the minds of the many Dark Jedi in the Temple. I knew that, on my own, I stood an average chance of defeating Malak, so I intended to wear him out before he got to me.

I dared not touch Malak's mind as he (and Juhani and Jolee Bindo!) entered the Temple. He would sense my presence for sure if I did that. So I settled with empowering the Dark Jedi with my Battle Meditation, giving them thoughts of defeating Malak and earning the highest praise possible from Revan. Then, just before they killed him, I replaced that with fear of failure, knowing that should they fail and not be killed by Malak, they would surely suffer a far worse fate at the hands of Revan. Needless to say, they chose the better of the two evils.

After almost half an hour of waiting since Malak had entered the Temple, I finally saw the three figures approach, coming from the depths of the Temple.

I smirked as they approached. My new lightsaber was hooked onto my belt for now, but I had practiced and trained a lot since swearing allegiance to Revan, and I could activate it in less then a second should the need arise.

"Malak - I knew you'd come for me, as did Revan." I said. "I see you were too cowardly to enter the Temple alone." I said, nodding to Juhani and Jolee. All three of them sensed the darkness inside me, and all three of them had their lightsabers out of their hands and ready. Jolee still had the single lightsaber, Juhani still had two, but Malak had a new saberstaff, not unlike my old one.

"It didn't take long to convert you, did it?" Malak asked. "I always knew you were weak!" He spat. I narrowed my eyes at him, snarling.

"I resisted at first." I said. "I endured the Sith torments with the passionless serenity of a true Jedi, emptying my mind. But after a week of endless tortures I finally saw the truth. Revan forced me to acknowledge that the Council was using me. She forced me to face my anger, my pain. And finally, she forced me to take revenge."

"_She_?" Malak asked.

"The Dark Lady Revan," I said. "Was under the guise of Zora Firemoon during our mission." I smirked at their shock. Malak obviously hadn't fallen as far as I had thought if he still did not remember the true identity of his former Master.

"If you've fallen under Revan's control," Malak said, and he spun his lightsaber in a wide arc as two crimson beams ejected from either end of it's hilt. "Then you must die!" He lunged forward. My lightsaber was in my hand in less then a second, two crimson blades erupting from both ends just as Malak's had, and I met him blade-for-blade. Blocking his first attack, ducking under his second attack.

Then I made my own attack, spinning, striking, dancing around him as he tried to defend and attack me at the same time. He hadn't improved one bit since I'd last seen him, and that would be his downfall.

"A pity the power you once had is so diluted in you." I said, as our blades locked. "You could have been strong as I am now... stronger, even. But that will never happen, now. With the power of the Star Forge Malak will destroy the Republic and conquer the galaxy. And I will be the apprentice at his side - after I prove my worth by killing you!"

I stuck again and again in rapid progression, forcing him into a permanent defensive. I was stronger then even I had suspected.

And then I realized my mistake. I had completely forgotten about Jolee and Juhani. Both Jedi rushed at me at once, blue, red and green blade striking at me at once.

I shoved all three of them backward with a jolt of the Force, throwing them across the summit.

"You're powerful Bastila." Malak said. "You've grown, in the Force and in yourself since I last saw you." He had a mad grin on his face. "And for then reason I can't let you live."

"No, don't give into the Dark Side." Jolee said. "Don't let her win, this is exactly what she wants."

I smirked. "Thanks for the escape, old man." I knew I couldn't defeat Malak as long as he had his friends there to back him up. While Malak was busy berating Jolee for interrupting him, I fled to my G-Wing, prepped it for take off, and was already in the air by the time they realized I had escaped.

"Another time, Malak." I promised.

_Another time, Bastila. _I heard his thoughts through our Bond. The close proximity with him had strengthened it for a few moments.

I turned the G-Wing and set a course back to the Star Forge.

Revan

I landed my fighter up the hill from where the Ebon Hawk had crash landed. I looked down onto the beach where it was landed. Much of the crew was waiting down on the beach. I smirked. HK-47 was there too. I had programmed him to serve Carth until I came back, and it looked like he was doing his job.

I discarded my Battle Robes, leaving only my Jedi Robes, although they were very dark now; I had dyed them a very dark magenta.

When the crew saw me walking down the hill they were all ecstatic. "Zora - you're alive!" Carth said excitedly. "I was worried about you. For a minute there I was sure we'd never see you again once Revan got his... w... wait a minute."

I smirked. He had worked it out faster then I would have expected.

"Something's changed about you, Zora." He said, backing away. I noticed behind him a young man I had seen once or twice before, and smirked. Dustil Onasi had come along with his father. I was only half-listening to Carth as I probed Dustil's mind for anything I could use. I noticed a lot of anger against his father. With the right words, I could probably persuade him to leave his father and join me.

"Something's changed about me?" I asked. "Could it be that I never was the woman you thought." Carth's eyes narrowed at me, obviously perplexed by what I was saying. "You're not as smart as I thought, Carth." I said. "But then again, why would you want to believe that the woman you bedded was in fact…" I lowered my voice evilly. "…Darth Revan!"

Carth stepped back, shaking his head. "No, you can't mean that!" He begged. It was quite entertaining. "This... this isn't you! You're not Revan, I know it!"

"Don't be a blind fool, Carth." I snapped, using the Force to slap him across the face. "Open your eyes!"

He rubbed his cheek, snarling at me.

"Join me, Carth." I said seductively. Just as Malak had persuaded Saul Karath to join him, I intended to bring Carth over to the Dark Side if I could. "You said you loved me once." I whispered.

"No, never!" Carth said defiantly. "You're not the woman I love. We'll stop you if we have to, all of us. "

"All of you? Are you sure of that?" I asked. I nodded to HK-47, who had powered up his blaster rifle. T3 turned to the assassin droid, who responded by firing an ion beam from the mini-ion cannon built into his shoulder. I turned to the rest of the crew. "The Republic is doomed!" I said. "Who will now swear loyalty to the Dark Lord of the Sith?"

Canderous was the first to step over to me, much the Carth's anger. "You're Revan and I'll follow you anywhere." Canderous said. I had expected that; after defeating Mandalore in the wars, I had earned the right to ruling over all of the Mandalorian Clans. "It doesn't matter who you're fighting against, I'll be at your side. Mandalorians don't have any great love for the Republic anyway. Light side, dark side - it doesn't make any difference to me, Revan. I'll stick by you no matter what comes."

I turned my gaze on the Onasi boy. "And you?" I asked. The eighteen-year-old looked at his father, and then back at me. I could tell that, as angry as he was at his father, when it came down to it, he wasn't sure if he could betray his father. "Your father abandoned you on Telos when you were younger." I said. "Remember? Admiral Karath was taking you to Malak when I came for you. I saved you from both Malak and your father."

His gaze drifted toward me. He seemed to be considering what I was saying. Good. Carth fell right into my plans by giving Dustil the lousiest excuse he could have, "I didn't have a choice! I was needed..."

I felt the rage build up inside Dustil at those three words before he cut off his father. "Yeah? Well you were needed at home, too." He snapped. "You were needed when the bombing started and I-"

"Dustil, don't listen to-!" Carth began.

"Silence!" I said. "Let him speak!" I commanded. Dustil looked thankfully at me, exactly as I knew he would. Carth was doing nothing but cementing the Dustil's path.

"She's right…" Dustil said. "You abandoned us on Telos. The Republic was more important to you the mother and I. You think I don't remember the arguments? Mother thought the same thing in the end."

"What, no, don't-"

"Give it up, Carth." I said. "You've already lost him." I smirked as Carth turned on me.

"Shut up!" He snapped. I gave him an all-too-innocent look, and he added, "Stay out of this!"

"Is that all you do? Give out orders?" Dustil said. "Well I'm tired of taking orders from people who have no authority over me! The only person I take orders from now is…"

"Stop it, Dustil! Stop it!" Carth ordered, as if he hadn't heard a word Dustil had just said. "I won't let you go on like this! What has she done to you!"

"It's not what she's done." Dustil said. "It's what you never did. You... you never gave me so much as a second's notice."

"No... no, that's not true!" Carth insisted. "I was there when you were younger, but I had to leave to fight! I fought for _you_, for your freedom!"

"No you didn't." Dustil said. I smiled gleefully when I saw his hand hovering near his lightsaber. "You fought for yourself. For glory. Well, the Sith can do that, too. We learn to fight... and to kill. You want to see what I've learned, 'father'?"

"No, Dustil, don't! I don't-" Carth begged.

Dustil's face hardened, as if it was made of stone. "It's too late for that, old man." He said, taking his lightsaber from his belt and igniting the single red lightsaber.

"I don't believe you'll do it, Dustil." Carth said. "And to prove it," He tossed aside his blaster. "I'll leave myself wide open to you."

"You fool." Dustil said. "You should have taken her offer when you had the chance!" And with that, he rushed forward. Carth didn't move away, and he didn't fight back, so Dustil's lightsaber cut straight through him.

It took him only a minute for him to realize just what it was he had done. For a minute, he just stood there, unable to believe it had happened. I had seen that happened before, and I knew what came next.

"You did this to me." He snarled, turning on me. "You forced me to attack him!" He took a step toward me, only to be lifted into the air and sent sailing through the air into the side of the Ebon Hawk.

"I did not force you to attack him." I said calmly. "I forced you to recognize your anger, to recognize what he'd done to you, or rather, what he hadn't." I took a step toward him. "Only a true Sith could have done what you have done. Now tell me, is that what you want?"

He looked at me, knowing that if he said yes and meant it, he would become a full Sith, the same rank Master Uthar had been before being slain by Malak. If he said yes and didn't mean it, or he said no, he would likely join his father. He looked at me for what seemed like hours.

Then he forced himself to his feet, staggered forward, and dropped to one knee in front of me. "I swear myself to you, Lady Revan." He said, and I could sense he was telling the truth. I smiled, and turned to Mission and Zaalbar.

"Mission?" I asked. Dustil stood and walked over to Canderous.

"I saw what the Sith did to Taris - anyone who serves the dark side is evil! Big Z and I will never join you!" She said defiantly. Zaalbar nodded.

"_We stand with Kayle…with Malak!_" He said.

I smirked. "Then," I whispered menacingly. "It's time for you to die." I ignited my lightsaber and leapt at Mission. Zaalbar roared, and leapt at me, attempting to crush me as I passed him. With one slash of my lightsaber, Zaalbar was cut in two. He was dead before he hit the ground.

"Noo-!" Mission's scream was cut short as I stabbed my lightsaber through her chest. Like her friend, she was already dead as she hit the sand. I frowned, turning around. "So, of the entire crew that served under Malak, I have only managed to get three of you to join me?" I asked. "Hmmm, well, I suppose that is okay, since my fighter could only carry myself and three others."

I turned. "Come, we have much to-" At that moment, my comlink signaled. I activated it, and had a quick conversation with the new admiral. When it was done, I slipped the comlink back into my pocket and turned back to my three followers. "Looks like we're going to be having some company…"


	22. Chapter 21: The Unified Force

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: And now, my storyline will take a turn away from the game, after following it for so long (or maybe I haven't been…but I haven't been able to tell much difference between the two).

Chapter 21: The Unified Force

Revan

"Remember the plan." I said from the front of small shuttle/fighter. "As long as the Jedi don't suspect us, don't blow your cover." The admiral had told me that the Republic fleet had finally arrived. Upon leaving the atmosphere of Rakata, both Dustil and I sensed several large presence's in the Force. At least half of the Jedi Council was on board one of the Republic Flagships. I intended to remove that small problem was quickly and as quietly as possible.

"Dustil, activate your Stealth Unit." I said. "As long as you have a Force shield around you, even the Council shouldn't be able to sense you." I had helped in tap into the Force as a whole, as I had Bastila, and he had proved strong enough by far to be a Sith Lord. Almost as strong as Bastila.

"HK, I'm afraid you'll have to seem deactivated for a little while so it looks like Malak really did turn on us." I added. HK seemed a little disturbed by this, but made no complaint. Our plan was to look as if Malak had turned on us on Rakata, sided with Bastila, and attacked the crew, with only myself (since the Council still did not know I was not really Zora Firemoon), Canderous and HK surviving. Dustil would be hidden nearby in case we needed back-up.

I reached back as we docked in the Republic ship hangar bay, and deactivated HK with a jolt of the Force. A moment later, Dustil's body seemed to shimmer and then vanish. Nodding in satisfaction, I deactivated the shuttle/fighter, opened the door, and exited, stumbling as if injured, which, technically, I was. Canderous and I had to look like we had been injured, so Dustil had attacked us both with his lightsaber power setting lowered just enough to not deal permanent damage.

"Padawan Firemoon?" I looked down and saw the troll, Vandor? Vendar? Vandar? Yes, that was his name. "What has happened?"

"Kayle, he…he attacked us." I said, reverting to my soft Zora Firemoon voice. "He went into the Rakatan Temple, to disable the disruptor field. But…something must have happened in there, because he came back with Bastila, and they…" I made a very well acted whimper. "They had both turned to the Dark Side." I refused to say the word 'fallen', since I did not see the Dark Side as a fall.

Vandar looked disturbed, but nodded. "I feared this would happen." He said. "Very well, I will send for a medic to take care of you and your…friend." He seemed even more disturbed when he noticed my comrade was a Mandalorian. "And a technician for your…is that a droid?"

I nodded. "It was acquired on Tatooine." I said. "It could speak the Sand People language." Vandar nodded, though I could tell he was suspicious of my choice of company. Behind him, I saw Masters Zhar, Dorak and a Jedi Master I'd heard of but never actually met, a Quarren named Lortho.

"We will escort you to an empty room, where you will be joined by medic." Zhar said. I nodded, and he turned and led Canderous and I down the hall. I looked around, and caught a glimpse of a shimmer in the air, almost impossible to see if you weren't looking for it. Good, the boy was following us.

When we reached the rooms, I saw Dustil slip in as I had a quick conversation with Zhar, telling him that both Bastila and Kayle had fallen to the Dark Side. Canderous made a low growl in the back of his throat when the Medic arrived and tried to give him a kolto injection. I smirked mentally.

Zhar left a few moments later, and I decided it was time to get some rest.

"HK-47, put that Padawan down!" Dustil shouted. My eyes were open in an instant, lightsaber in hand and activated, the emerald green blade throwing a green glow around the room. I saw Canderous sitting back with an amused look on his face, Dustil with his stealth field inactive and his lightsaber in his hand but inactive, and HK-47 with his (for once blasterless) hand around the throat of a Twi'lek Jedi Padawan.

"HK-47, drop him." I said, trying to hide my amusement. The assassin droid obeyed, releasing his grip. Sighing, I swung my lightsaber, beheading the Padawan. "I knew I should have left you inactive until we got back to the Star Forge, now we're going to have every Jedi Master on this ship on top of us within five minutes."

"Agreement: Indeed, Master." HK said. I didn't need to hear anymore to know that that had been his intention. I sighed again, and then hit him with another bolt of Force electricity to fry his circuits. "Okay, new plan," I said. "You two get this hunk of homicidal iron back to the shuttle, I'll take care of the Jedi Masters."

"All of the Jedi Masters?" Canderous said, just as Dustil said "There's got to be at least four on this ship."

"Yeah," I said lazily. "I might just work up a sweat doing it." I turned and left the room, hoping I'd get at least a bit of a challenge (Dark Jedi Masters are so boring, they are so weak). I went straight to the Bridge, hoping to find one or two there. All I found was a bunch of pathetic soldiers and one Admiral Dodonna.

"Hi." I said, before placing every soldier in a stasis field. Dodonna backed away from me, raising a blaster. She fired, and I spun my lightsaber, the blade erupting from the end and deflecting the bolt back at Dodonna. It hit her between the eyes, killing her instantly. "Score one for the Sith Lord." I said. I raised my hand above my head and began absorbing the life of the many soldiers controlling the ship.

When that was done, I walked up to a console and set the ship on autopilot, and then turned to leave, only to find my path blocked by Jedi Master Zhar, his single green lightsaber ignited, and two other Jedi Masters I did not recognize; one was a human man who looked in his late fifties, with a short white beard and white hair that was playing the vanishing act, carrying a single blue lightsaber, and the other was a Vurk, carrying a double-bladed violet lightsaber.

"By order of the Jedi Council, you are under arrest Zora Firemoon." Zhar said, taking a step toward me. "Or perhaps I should call you Darth Revan."

"Yes, I'd much prefer that!" I said, and I charged forward, my lightsaber blazing through the body of the old man before he knew what had happened. I then spun around in time to block Zhar's attack. I Force-jumped over both Jedi Masters and stabbed my lightsaber through his back, severing his spinal-cord.

"Two Jedi Masters down, only one to go…" I trailed off. "Make that two, where is the little troll?" I asked. I was somewhat disappointed at how easily I'd bested the first two Jedi Masters (how they achieved that rank is beyond me), and I was looking for a real challenge. Aside from me, Vandar was supposed to be one of the most power Force-users of the age.

"He'll be on his way shortly," Zhar said. "By which time, you will be dead."

"Oh, one of us will be dead," I said. "But it won't be me." I struck at him and he blocked the attack. I became one with the Force, surrounding myself in both the light and darkness, merging them into one like I had done in front of Bastila. With my Unified Force powers, I was strong enough to throw Zhar across the Bridge and out, throwing him into the corridor wall outside. I then summoned one of the fallen Masters' lightsabers into the air and through it at Zhar. The blue beam slid out of the hilt in time to block Zhar's attack.

I leapt forward, propelled by the Force, and struck with speed and strength only possible by use of the Force. Zhar only just managed to block my attack, before being stabbed in the chest by the blue lightsaber I had controlled with the Force.

"Score set: Sith Empire – 4; Galactic Republic – 0." I said, deactivating my lightsaber and clipping it onto my belt. "Anyone else care to try me?" I looked around the Bridge, eying all the dead bodies, and smiled like a blacksmith does at a well made sword.

"I see you have been busy, Revan." I spun around and saw the diminutive troll-like Jedi Master standing in front of me.

"Lady Revan, to you troll." I said. I ignited my lightsaber again, spinning it in a full circle in front of my. "I hope you're ready, 'else this will be a very boring fight." I leapt into the air, doing a flip and bring my lightsaber down on him. The troll's lightsaber, barely as long as my elbow to my wrist, blazed to life and met my blade.

I spun around and struck again, feigned a left strike and struck at his right side instead. He anticipated my attack and leapt into the air striking my blade and then kicking me in the face. His foot wasn't even as big as my hand, so I hit him with said hand and sent him flying across the Bridge.

"Not bad, troll." I said, and I fired a wave of Force lightning at him. He caught it in his hand and deflected it back at me as Bastila had, and I caught it, doubling its power and firing it back. This time even he couldn't block it, and he was pushed backwards by the electrical blast, pushed against the side of the Bridge and held there as I raised both hands and released even more electricity.

For the next five minutes all I did was throw Force lightning at the troll, until (finally!) he stopped struggling against the thousands of volts of electricity coursing through his body, and I let him drop to the floor.

"Hurray for me." I said. "I just killed the second most power Force-user in the Galaxy!" The most powerful Force-user being me. I smirked, and turned away from the spot the troll had been hanging, and activated my comlink. "Dustil, prep the shuttle, I'll be there in a few moments."

"_Consider it done, Lady Revan._" Dustil's voice came over the comlink. "_We'll be ready for you as soon as you get here._"

It didn't take me long to get back to the hangar, where I saw that Dustil had indeed started up the shuttle, and was only waiting for me to get in before taking off.

We maneuvered through the many Republic and Sith ships until we reached the Star Forge. I gave Dustil the correct codes, and we got into the top level of the Star Forge. I sent Dustil down to the Replicating Room, where he would find the Star Forge's materializing powers could be used to make items smaller then a shuttle.

I looked out at the space battle going on above the Rakatan Homeworld. In just a few hours, the fate of the Galaxy would be decided.


	23. Chapter 22: Through Victory

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: Third from last chapter.

Chapter 22: Through Victory…

Bastila

I felt Revan's presence as she returned to the Star Forge. For a moment, I considered remaining where I was, using my Battle Meditation to help destroy the Republic. But then I felt the pull of the Force. She wanted to speak with me. So I broke my meditation and turned to walk to the hangar. Before I could so much as a step, the door opened and Revan walked in.

"Master, why have you come?" I asked. "Without my Battle Meditation, there is a slight chance, however slim, that the Republic will manage to break through our defences, and attack the Star Force."

"Do not worry, Bastila, this will not take long," Revan said. "I just thought you ought to know that Masters Zhar and Vandar are both dead." I felt a small flicker of grief upon hearing of the death of my old Master, but I quickly quashed it. Revan was my Master now, and I would serve her loyally.

"This is good new, Master?"

"Is that a question or a statement, Bastila?" Revan asked.

"This is good to hear, my Master." I said more confidently. Revan seemed satisfied. She turned to leave, and then stopped. "He is here." I said without thinking.

Revan only nodded. "Indeed. It seems fate is driving us to a battle with my traitorous apprentice." Revan turned back to me. "When he arrives, kill him." I said.

"Of…of course, my Lady Revan." I said, bowing to Revan.

"I sense fear Bastila…" Revan said, turning back to me, and I tensed. "Fear is one of the only two true human emotions, from which all other emotions come from. Fear will lead to anger, to jealousy, to hate. But fear can also be used to control others." She turned away, obviously finished speaking. "The power of the Star Forge is at your disposal, Bastila; use it." She turned to leave.

"Of course, Master. I will not fail you again." I bowed again, and she left.

I turned back to the gigantic map of the battle, and knelt in front of it, fusing my thoughts with the flow of the Force, merging with the battle, becoming one with it.

I reached out and touched the minds of the Republic soldiers, striking fear into their hearts and mind, thoughts of hopelessness. The Sith had amassed an army more then twice the size of the whole Republic Fleet. They stood no chance of winning against such unbeatable odds.

I gave the Sith the opposite of those thoughts. They had the advantage of sheers numbers as well as skill. They were about to win, to destroy the Republic once and for all. The Republic stood no chance…

I stood and activated my lightsaber so fast I was barely aware I'd done it, but just like that I blocked Malak's attack. I spun almost to fast for him to see and kicked him in the chest, then spun again and punched him in the throat.

"You should know better then to try and sneak up on a Sith Lord, Malak." I said. "At least, a Sith Apprentice." I smirked.

"You still have a chance, Bastila." Malak said. "Join me, be _my _Apprentice. Together we could destroy Revan and build our own empire."

I laughed. "I am loyal to Revan, and Revan alone." I said. "You are nothing but a speck beneath my boot." I struck, fast and hard at his chest. He blocked the attack and punched me in the face before dropping and kicking my legs out form under me.

As I fell backwards I called upon the Force, and caught myself in mid fall, pulling my legs over me and landing back on my feet. I did all this in about one second. Then the fight was back on. I parried his first attack and slashed at his hip. He made to block it, realizing seconds later it was a feint. Too late, I spun my lightsaber around, bringing the other end of it up to his shoulder. He backed up, and my lightsaber cut clean through the middle of his, cleaving it in half.

One half of his lightsaber stopped functioning completely, and the other seemed at only half power. I smirked, and pressed my attack against him. Strike after strike after strike, the Star Forge re-energizing me every time I got tired. He was almost beaten. Just a few more minutes and he would be dead.

What I didn't expect was for him to slam his fist into my chest, throwing me backwards. He obviously knew he didn't stand a chance against me, so he decided to cheat, and threw a flash grenade at me. Before I had a chance to shield my eyes it exploded right in front of me, throwing me backwards.

Dustil

I sprinted out of the elevator on the second floor of the Star Forge, where it's replicating facilities were. I approached the room Revan had directed me to. As soon as the two soldiers guarding the room had confirmed Revan had sent me, they stepped aside, allowing me to pass.

I walked over to the console and followed Revan's instructions, placing my hand on the Replication Scanner. I felt a tingling go up through my fingers, and pass through the rest of my body. Then, after a strange display of light effects, a pair of sleek black robes appeared inside some sort of metal box.

I walked over to the box, and, upon closer inspection saw that they were, in fact, a very dark shade of blue, with dark crimson thread woven into it at the edges, and a long flowing black cloak to go over it. Lying on top of the robes was a pair of black leather gloves and black boots. I grabbed the robes, gloves and boots, and ducked behind the console to get changed into them.

When I stepped out, I looked down on my new attire. They were alarmingly comfortable, far more then normal Dark Jedi Robes. No wonder Revan was always so dangerous in battle – the battle robes she wore were no doubt Star Forge made – I felt like I could take on Malak himself in those robes.

And speaking of Malak.

I looked up as both the Sith Soldiers suddenly clutched their throats, as if trying to remove a hand that had taken hold of them. I knew they couldn't, but it was just the warning I needed.

I looked up, bent me knees, and vaulted upward, grabbing hold of a long coiled tube while Malak, Juhani and Jolee searched the room. Juhani suddenly looked up, her eyes locking with mine. For a moment I feared I had been discovered. But she did not tell Malak, she merely turned back to him, and a few moments later they left the room. I dropped down, and slowly crept after them, back up the elevator, following the trail of death Malak left behind him.

I was delayed for a time by three Dark Jedi looking to make a name for themselves (obviously they didn't realize I was now training next to the Dark Lord's apprentice). I made short work of all three of them with a variety of Force and lightsaber attacks alike.

By the time I caught up with Malak, I found my way blocked by a Force-sealed door, and Juhani and Jolee. Jolee ignited his lightsaber (he obviously knew I was no longer on his side), only to be hit in the back of the head by the end of Juhani's lightsaber hilt.

"Hurry," She said. "Jolee and I could not get the door opened, but neither of us was using the Dark Side. I think that is what is needed to unseal it." I nodded, and we took each other's hands, both of us focusing the Dark Side of the Force at the sealed door.

With a click, the seal broke, and the door slid open, just in time for us to see Malak throw a flash grenade at Bastila. It exploded in her face and she was thrown backwards into the wall.

"You should have taken my offer Bastila." Malak said, pulling her lightsaber into his hand and activating it. "You should have joined me. Now you will see the power of a true Sith."

Both Juhani and I leapt forward, red lightsabers bursting to life. Kayle spun around just in time to block our synchronized attacks. He raised a hand and threw us both backwards against the wall.

"Juhani? Another traitor." He snarled. "I'll kill all three of you." He raised his hand, and three jets of dark orange energy shot out. One hit Bastila, one hit Juhani, and the last hit me.

All three of us cried out in pain as new and old wounds opened across our body, Malak stealing away our life to preserve his.

And then it all stopped. Through blurred eyes, I saw Malak, looking around, searching for the source of the interference. I tried to look as well, but before I got a chance a terrifying voice echoed within the walls of the Star Forge.

"I tire of this game, Malak!" The voice echoed. You have been a thorn in my side from the moment you attempted to betray me." I recognized the voice now; it was Revan. "You made a mistake coming here, my old _friend_."

"I am more powerful then you ever were, Revan!" Malak shouted. "My command over the Dark Side is greater then it ever was before."

"And that is your greatest weakness!" Revan's voice answered. "You could never accept that in order to achieve true power one must embrace the Force as a whole. That is why, here on the Star Forge, I will kill you!" Revan stepped into the command centre. "You will not escape me this time, you traitorous worm!"

She leapt high into the air, emerald green lightsaber blazing to life as she met Malak momentarily in the air. Their lightsabers crossed, and they both kicked, pushing off each other. Revan slowed herself with the Force and landed softly on the ground, while Malak's feet met the wall and he flipped off, landing feet first on the floor of the command centre.

The lack of conflict lasted about ten seconds before the two Sith charged each other.

Revan

I blocked his first attack, ducked under the first, then Force-jumped/back-flipped over the third. Then I began my own assault, a second blade shooting down the left sleeve of my battle robes and into my hand, the crimson-red blade blazing to life. I feigned a slash at his shoulder with my green lightsaber, and then swung wide with the red one, grazing his shoulder before he managed to roll out of the way.

Bastila, Dustil and Juhani were obviously either too beaten to help or had enough common sense to know not to. This was a battle between Malak and myself, and any interference would be a distraction more then help.

I blocked his attempted attack at my shoulder, and backed away from the second. Then I fired a wave of Force lightning at him. He blocked the lightning with his lightsaber, though with some difficulty. I stopped the attack and lunged forward before he had a chance to recover, using the Force to speed my movements. He only barely managed to block all of my attacks, and then only most of them. I got in a few, and pretty soon there were quite a few lightsaber burns along his chest, and a long burn down his arm.

"The end is near, Malak, can you feel it?" I asked as our lightsabers locked.

"Your end maybe." Malak snarled. He pushed away from me and charged forward, spinning Bastila's lightsaber in a wide circle in front of him, burning the metal of the floor as he did.

I pulled my hand back, and calling upon the Force, and then thrust it forward again, releasing a wave of Force energy to shove him back. He seemed prepared for it, and wasn't thrown back as hard as I had wished, but it still did enough to slow him down.

I closed my eyes while he recovered, and I wrapped myself in the light and the darkness, like I did on Dodonna's ship. "The Sith Code says 'Through Victory my Chains are Broken'. I don't believe that is completely true."I said. "Only by accepting the Force, all of the Force, as a whole can one truly break free, truly gain power." I opened my eyes as he charged at me. "And now it's time to show you what true power is all about."

Just as I had sped up the molecules in the air as an example for Bastila, I sped up the molecules in the air once more. But this time I focused them, and directed them, faster and faster, further and further. Light and darkness used together; and then I fired it all at Malak and one blast of translucent-multicoloured energy.


	24. Chapter 23: My Chains are Broken

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: Since this is technically the last chapter, I will answer a few of your more recently submitted reviews. Also, for the Revan/Bastila romance, I used the Revan/Juhani dialogue, since I was having trouble coming up with my own.

Chapter 23: …My Chains are Broken

Bastila

"Only by accepting the Force, all of the Force, as a whole can one truly break free, truly gain power." I heard Revans words as if hearing them across a great distance. "And now it's time to show you what true power is all about."

I opened my eyes just in time to see Malak consumed by the multicoloured blast of translucent energy fired from Revan's hands. I forced myself to my feet. Revan ended the attack, and when the light faded, there stood Malak, his robes torn and burned, a maddened glint in his eyes, but still very much alive.

"Thankyou for the eye-opener Revan." He breathed. "But if you don't mind, I'd like to kill you a differently." He said, and raised both hands, firing a wave of Force lightning at Revan, who caught the lightning with the blade of her green lightsaber. She threw her red lightsaber into the air, released a Force wave at Malak with her free hand, and then caught her lightsaber again without missing a beat.

Malak was thrown backward, the Force wave absorbing his lightning as it went. He slammed into the door frame behind him, and crashed t to the floor. Revan took a step toward him, both her lightsabers blazing. Malak pulled himself to his feet, and ignited my lightsaber again.

"I won't be beaten by you again!" He said defiantly.

Revan looked at her former apprentice, and then nodded. For a split-second, her eyes met mine, with the faintest hint of a message. I gave her an even fainter nod.

"You're right, Malak." Revan said. "You won't be beaten by me." She deactivated her lightsabers. Malak faltered for only a second, and that was all I needed. "Today, you will die at the hands of Darth Veran!" I leapt into the air, over Malak, as Revan threw her red lightsaber into the air. I was not used to single bladed lightsabers, but at point blank range, it did not matter. I landed behind Malak, lightsaber in hand and blazing to life, and I swung with all my strength. The end of Darth Malak, the beginning as a Jedi, moving on as a Sith, and ending in nothing, consumed by darkness.

"Well done, my apprentice." Revan said. "You have proven yourself worthy of being my apprentice, and of being a Sith Lord." I smiled at that. I was proud, and for the first time in my life, I did not have to hide it.

I bowed my head. "Thank you, Master." I said. Revan turned, and walked over to Juhani, who seemed to have suffered the worst wounds. She waved me over, and showed me how to touch the Light Side of the Force through the Dark Side. Together, we healed Juhani's wounds, then went over and healed Dustil's wounds as well.

"Well done, all three of you." She said. "But especially well done to you Bastila." She turned, and began walking away. I realized she wanted us to follow her, and quickly sprinted after her. I heard Dustil and Juhani do the same.

We surveyed the last few moments of the battle. Two of the Republic flagships had managed to limp into Hyperspace and escape the destruction the rest of their fleet had suffered. My Battle Meditation had done it's job – the Sith had one.

One Week Later

"Malak is dead!" I shouted to the thousands of Sith Soldiers below us. "All hail Darth Revan, the Dark Lord of the Sith!" Revan stepped forward, and I fell back. Beside me stood Juhani and Dustil Onasi, both in respective Star Forge-made Robes. I too wore Star Forge Robes, though mean were far dark then theirs.

"The Jedi Order is in tatters." She shouted. "It is only a matter of time we wipe them from the face of the galaxy, forever!" There were thousands of cheers to that. "The Republic fleet is decimated; the Core Worlds are defenseless against us!" More cheering. I smirked. The Dark Side had won. No one would be able to stand against the Sith, not now that the Jedi were all-but extinct.

Revan

I piloted the Ebon Hawk down to the Rakatan Homeworld some weeks after the announcement we had made on Korriban. The had brought only Bastila, HK-47 and Canderous with me. Bastila, because I had a few final orders for her before I left. Canderous because there was something buried there that I knew he deserved. And HK-47 because I needed him to reprogram the T3 Unit we were picking up so that it would obey me.

When we landed on the beach where Carth had been killed, I saw that his body was still there, as was the T3 Unit and the bodies of Zaalbar and Mission. I ignored all three corpses as I walked by them. "Bastila, HK, deal with the T3 Unit." I said. "I have something to show Canderous." Bastila nodded her head, though she still wasn't too fond of the demonic-looking droid.

I led Canderous to the Temple of the Ancients, and we went deep into the Temple's Catacombs.

I went straight to the Central Computer, and activated it.

"Welcome back, Revan." It said. "It has been some time since you last accessed my database. I was beginning to wonder if you had been terminated."

"Hardly possible." I said. "I need you to give me access to the vault." I said.

"Of course." The computer said. Their was a clicking, and the seemingly solid stone wall behind it seemed to melt away. I walked forward, Canderous right behind me. Now, it takes an awful lot to surprise a Mandalorian, but I distinctly heard the gasp of surprise he gave when he saw what I kept hidden in 'the vault'.

Held up by different hooks imbedded into the walls was a very-well cared for suit of Mandalore Armour, the one I had won when I killed Mandalore. Upon reaching the Rakatan Homeworld, I had buried it here to hide it from the Rakata. It was time it returned to the Mandalorians.

"You have been called before me to answer to a great honour, Canderous of the Clan Ordo." I said. "The Mandalorians are scatted, leaderless, broken. Only by finding a new leader, can the Clans once again unite. Here, in this place of darkness, I name you Mandalore." I said. It wasn't exactly the Mandalore Ceremony, but it would do. Canderous was not one for big thank yous, so he simply nodded appreciatively, and then stepped forward to the armour.

I watched as he pulled off his regular Mandalorian Armour, and pulled on the Mandalore Armour. He seemed overjoyed. Or at least, as close to overjoyed as a Mandalorian could get (which was to not look quite as gruff as normal). When he was finally fully armoured except for the helmet, he turned to look at me.

"Thank you." Was all he said. Then he pulled the helmet over his head. I could tell the armour didn't fit as well as it had the last Mandalore – he would have to make a few adjustments – but it fit well enough to walk back to the Ebon Hawk.

We did that, and as soon as we reached it I went in search of Bastila, HK or the T3 Unit. I found Bastila in the Garage, the T3 Unit wheeling it's way toward the Engine Room.

"I…I finished work on the T3 Unit, my Lady." She said. "He will obey your every command now." I nodded. I could see Bastila wanted to say something, but felt it inappropriate. I nudged my way into her thoughts. She was regretting something. I nudged further, seeing if she was regretting killing Malak.

The thoughts and feelings I got as I went deeper into her mind grew chaotic. Conflicting feelings, denials, recognition. And at the heart of it, an undying, passionate – I couldn't quite call it love, but something close to it. And all of it was directed at – me!

I very-nearly hit her when I found that out. How dare she care for me? She had no right to feel that way.

_Did Malak? _That irrational voice that had haunted me every moment of every day since I had slept with Malak not long into the war. I wanted to squash that voice, I wanted to destroy it.

"Master?" Bastila whispered. Had she felt my presence in her mind. I wouldn't put it past her – she was probably almost as powerful as me, if not more. She would not have remained the apprentice for long if she hadn't…

I came back to what I'd realized. She cared for me. Why? I had tortured her relentlessly for over a week, I had hurt her, starved her, forced her to kill her closest friends, very nearly killed her herself.

_All so she _wouldn't _feel this way_. That irrational voice again. It was always telling me to do thing inappropriate for both a Jedi and a Sith. But was it true? Had I purposely tried to push her away. On some level I knew I feared I would just hurt her like I hurt Malak if I gave in as I had with him. _It's worth the risk._

I wanted to hit her. I wanted to hurt her for giving me these feelings. Why did this always happen with my Apprentice's? Malak, Taliat, and now Bastila!

"What's wrong, Revan?" Nobody had called me that in so long- Wrong thing to think, I should be punishing her for not calling me by my title! But I don't think I could, even if I wanted to. But how does a Sith Lord tell their apprentice they've…they care for them when the Sith Code stated that attachments to others were a weakness.

_And the Jedi Code stated that attachments to others were dangerous. What code is there that lets me feel what I want!_ I don't know if that was me or the irrational voice, but I agreed whole-heartedly. Neither Code allowed for attachments.

"I... I... I care for you." Bastila suddenly said. "I do not know why. I do not know if anything will be possible or if you even return what I feel, but I do know it is there." She seemed to realize what she had said, and deflated somewhat, her head bowed. "I am sorry if this upsets you. I am so sorry if I am wrong, but I cannot deny what it is that I feel."

I sighed, and lifted her head so she looked me in the eyes. "I…" I couldn't believe how hard it was for me to say this. "I feel the same way, Bastila." Her eyes widened. "I tried to deny it, but I can't. I care for you as well."

Bastila opened her mouth twice and closed it again. "Now that I have put myself in this position, I know not what to say."

"You do not have to say anything." I said. "We have gone beyond words, I think." She nodded.

"Yes. I thank you." She said. I leaned in close and we kissed. I don't know why, but it felt so right. Righter then it had, even with Carth.

I do not know how long we stood in that corridor, but eventually we came to be in the Port Dormitory, stripping off our robes, and crawling into the bed. And for the first time in almost four years, I felt alive and warm. The cold of the Dark Side was finally kept at bay by the warmth of passion.

Review Response:

To Dante-Raven: You never know. I merely said Vandar had stopped struggling. For you know (for that matter, for all I know) he could have survived that battle.

To Revan's Lost Soul: Thankyou, I always liked the idea of a unified Force combination that used the Light and the Dark Side, so I thought I may as well put it in her. I'll also be putting it in my new KOTOR Fanfic.

To Sith Assassin: If you mean the part with the door not opening for Juhani and Jolee, Jolee may be neutral, but he still only uses neutral and Light Side powers. As for T3, the only reason he stayed with Revan in the game was because Revan was his owner. In this, Malak was his owner so he remained loyal to Malak.


	25. Epilogue: The Force Shall Free Me

Title: **Destiny's New Path**

Summary: _A what if. What if it wasn't Revan on the Bridge when Malak fired on his Master's ship? Suddenly the Apprentice is betrayed by the Master, and Revan then infiltrates the ranks of the Jedi. The Dark Lords mission: turn Bastila to the Dark Side of the Force._

Disclaimer: _George Lucas and Bioware own the basis of this FanFic. I am merely entertaining the idea that I am good at making Star Wars stories (stupid ideas)._

Author's Note: And so, Destiny's New Path comes to a close.

Epilogue: _The Force Shall Free Me_

Revan

I flew the Ebon Hawk away from the Star Forge, turning back for only a second. "Goodbye, my love." I whispered softly to Bastila. Through the Bond forged from our night together, I knew she would feel my farewell.

I set the Ebon Hawk for autopilot, and walked out the back. I wanted to see why Bastila had wanted the T3 Unit a few hours before I had left.

As I passed the Security Room, I saw HK-47 speaking in binary to the Ebon Hawk, obviously trying to unlock the navicomputer. I continued toward the Engine room, and as I passed Garage, I saw Canderous, making modifications to Mandalore's armour, so that it would fit him properly. I shook my head. I would drop him off on Dxun, as I'd promised.

I reached the Engine Room, and found the T3 Unit working on the hyperdrive engine. It spun around as I approached.

"Show me the message my…the message Bastila gave you." I said. The Astromech droid seemed reluctant, but I after I threatened to give it a memory wipe, it quickly accessed the message.

A hologram of Bastila appeared in front of me, wearing her new Star Forge robes. "Every day as we continue to add more war ships to our fleet, she grows more and more distant – and at the same time she seems to be fighting to grow closer to me." She seemed to hesitate for a moment, trying to hide the fear I could see in her eyes. "She believes a threat lurks on the edge of the galaxy. Something that could threaten her power. I... fear she will go there... and I fear she will not return." I smiled and shook my head. For some reason it felt good to know she worried for me.

She gave a deep, rueful sigh. "If she leaves, she will take you with her - but not I. She knows these new feelings we have, the link we've forged, may prove a weakness where we plan to go." She turned, and I heard the sound of my own footsteps approaching. "If something happens, T3, then I need you to return to the Republic and find me. And if you cannot, then I need you to seek whatever help you can elsewhere, whether Jedi or the Sith... or someone in-between."

Another set of footsteps, and a door opening. She looked behind again, then back to T3. "This is my last order to you, T3. Obey it - and do not let me lose my Master..." She sighed again. "Even if she believes she is protecting me." I shook my head and smiled again. It did feel good to have someone that…that cared for me.

I turned away. "Thankyou, T3." I said. "That will be all." I walked away. And the Ebon Hawk moved ever further away from the Star Forge. Away from Bastila: my apprentice, and my lover.

* * *

A/N: I realize this isn't very long, but it wasn't supposed to be. I just felt like including the message Bastila left (though in the game it was for Male Revan) with T3 after Revan left.

Thankyou, all of you, for being such wonderful readers. I could not have written this without all the support. After reading through all the reviews, I discovered that of the entire 48 I have received, only one of them has been actual criticism, which means I must've done better then I thought.


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